DEAD MAN'S CANYON
by J7339
Summary: Little Joe thinks that his family doesn't love him anymore. He is always being yelled at and getting into trouble. To add to his problems there is a substitute teacher at the school that has also taken a disliking to Joe. After a vicious attack by the
1. Default Chapter

  
  
  
  


DEAD MAN'S CANYON 

  
  
  
  


Seven year old Joseph Cartwright sat at his father's business desk with a sheet of white 

butcher's paper and an overly large crayon.   
  


The little boy thought for a moment about what he might draw to please his father and older 

brothers Adam and Hoss. Suddenly an idea came to him. He sprawled his right hand out 

over the sheet of paper and gripped the black crayon in between his thumb and fingers of 

his left hand.   
  


Slowly and as carefully as he could he started to trace around the shape of his hand onto 

the paper. When he got to the end, he laid the crayon back on the desk and picked up the 

piece of paper to examine his work.   
  


The fingers were a little on the skinny side. It was harder than he thought to hold his hand 

still enough to draw around it. Plus it took all of his five little fingers to hold the crayon 

just right with enough pressure to make an impression.   
  


He was surveying his handiwork with a smile on his face when he heard a voice bellow 

from behind him:   
  


"LITTLE JOE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING" came the angry question from his big brother Adam.   
  


Joe hadn't heard anybody approach him from behind and almost jumped out of his skin as his 

brother yelled at him.   
  


"I..... I was just making a picture for you and Hoss and Pa, Adam" he said in a small voice.   
  


Adam wasn't concerned about what the little boy was holding up to show him. He was just 

worried that this was the second time in a week that the boy had been caught at his father's 

desk when he was told not to.   
  


"What were you told about going to Pa's desk, Little Joe" Adam asked with his hands on his 

hips. He had been outside in the yard all day while it was hot and was in no mood for the 

explanations of a overactive seven year old.   
  


"But Adam,......... " Joe tried to answer in his defence.   
  


"No buts, Little Joe, except yours over my knee if I catch you at that desk again" Adam said 

hotly. He didn't wait for a reply and walked out the door ready to resume his task outside.   
  


Adam was out the door when the crocodile size tears fell from his little face. He didn't know 

what he had done to make his big brother so angry. He thought he was drawing his family a 

lovely picture. He didn't think he was doing anything naughty. Not naughty enough to receive 

a trip over Adam's knee.   
  


He ran upstairs to his room with his picture tuck safely under his arm. He dived on his bed, 

head first and buried his curly head into the pillow and cried. He lifted his head up and spotted 

his teddy bear friend Bo and clutched it close to his little chest and proceeded to cry tears all over 

the stuffed animal.   
  


"Why don't they want to play with me Bo" he said through sobs. There was nobody else on 

the ranch to play with. His father was always out with the men tending to the cattle with Hoss. 

Adam was too busy handling the timber contract to bother about a lonely little brother.   
  


The truth was he was lonely. Very lonely. He was banned from going into the barn without 

his father or brothers. He couldn't go to the corral without being under somebody's watchful 

eye. When everyone got fed up with him or couldn't afford the time to be with him, he was 

banished to the inside of the house. This is where he had found himself this afternoon.   
  


The teddy bear just looked back at him with large black eyes. His face was always poised 

with a smile no matter what his master had been accused of. Bo never yelled at him. Bo always 

had time to play with him. Bo never got bored with the endless stream of questions. Bo was 

the only true friend he had.   
  
  
He had been to school today. Hoss had come with him as far as the school house but he had 

to return to the ranch to help his father and the rest of the hands. Hoss was big for his age and 

when the hands were low in numbers, Hoss was usually first to put up his hand to help out. 

He didn't enjoy school anyway. Hoss always felt left out with his peers due to his size.   
  


Little Joe didn't understand why he had to go to school and his brothers got to stay at home with 

Pa. Little Joe had always staying at home with Pa. Since his mother Marie had passed away 

a little over two years ago, he was always when Pa went away that he wouldn't come back   
  


When Adam had come to pick him up from the schoolhouse, Joe had been happy enough. 

His day had been a quite one. First up he had a spelling test from Ms Jones. He had spent his 

recess time talking to the new boy in school. He was a strange looking kid with dark hair 

and olive skin. Joe had talked to him because he seemed to be sitting all on his one like 

Joe was. His name was Johnny Scott. He was seven and a half.   
  


It was after they returned home that Joe began to feel all alone again. He had put his little 

horse Star away in the barn with the help of his brother Hoss. His big brother had shown him 

how to comb the little horse's mane and coat. He showed Little Joe how much to feed the 

little horse at night time. It had been Hoss who attended to most of the physical parts of the 

lecture. Joe just listened to what his brother was telling him. Later when he was as big as 

Hoss and Adam he wanted to ride all of the horses on the ranch. He had to listen now to know 

what to do then.   
  


Around the dinner table that night, the mood was sombre. Pa had only returned just upon dusk. 

He was very tired and wasn't ready for the energy of his youngest son. He gave him a 

half-hearted hug as the little boy wrapped himself around his legs when he walked through the 

door. As soon as he managed to pry Little Joe free, Ben was telling his son to wash up for 

supper. There wouldn't be any time for play tonight.   
  


Ben could see the depressed look on his youngest son's face. He had his head bowed and was 

trying to stab a wayward pea on the plate with his knife. The attempts he made failed and only 

resulted in a sharp screeching sound of metal on porcelain which put the older Cartwright's nerves 

on edge.   
  
  


"Little Joe do you really have to do that" Adam said impatiently. He had a throbbing headache.   
  


Little Joe just slumped lower in his chair and forgot all about the food on his plate. Adam was 

yelling at him for the second time this afternoon.   
  


Ben tried to ease the tension a little "Little Joe, what did you do after school this afternoon?"   
  


"Got roused on by Adam" came the hot reply from the youngster.   
  


"Watch your tone, young man" Ben warned "You don't have to be so rude at the dinner 

table, Little Joe."   
  


This scolding only got the little man's temper up more. "Fine, may I be excused, Pa. 

Everybody picks on me anyway." He didn't wait for his father's reply. He stomped his 

way upstairs and went into his bedroom.   
  


"What had gotten into your younger brother" Ben asked his remaining two sons.   
  


"Don't know Pa" Hoss replied "Me and him helped brush Star down and he seemed alright 

then in the barn." Hoss didn't like to see his little brother upset. He would have to find 

out what was wrong with him.   
  


"I found him at your desk this afternoon, Pa" Adam chimed in "He was told twice earlier 

this week to stay away. It doesn't seem to matter what I tell him these days, he just the 

complete opposite."   
  


"Oh Adam, I sure it's not as bad as all that" Ben said trying to defend Little Joe somewhat. 

"Joe's a growing boy and needs things to keep him occupied. He gets bored easily. You 

will just have to make some small allowances for him. The school holidays are coming up 

at the end of this week. Maybe you can all go fishing and get him out of the house for a day."   
  


Adam just mumbled some other words under his breath and then excused himself and 

went into his own room for a while. Pa was right. Little Joe was just being a kid. He regretted 

that he had yelled at Joe at the desk, but he was just tired and let things get the better of him. 

Little Joe was probably asleep now so he would offer his apologizes in the morning.   
  


Ben climbed the stairs and went to knock on the door of Joe's room. Like Adam he fully 

expected the boy to be sleeping. Instead, he found that the little boy hadn't noticed his 

presence yet and he was able to listen to the heart to heart conversation he was having with 

his bear Bo.   
  


"Bo, I wish Mama would come back" he said on the verge of a fresh set of tears. 

"Adam wouldn't be so mean with Mama here. I didn't mean to make him angry today. 

I just wished there was somebody for me to play with."   
  


Ben listened to his son's words and felt his own heart grow heavy at the emotion displayed. 

His little boy was hurting. Ben was even sadder that his son was still so upset over Marie's 

death.   
  


Ben coughed to alert his presence in the room. Little Joe was startled at first that somebody 

else was in the room. He looked up and saw that it was his father, but the tears couldn't 

be hidden.   
  


"Little Joe," Ben started to say. He sat beside his son on the bed and was greeted by the 

boy wrapping his thin little arms around his broad chest and burying his head in his embrace 

and crying.   
  


"I just want somebody to play with Pa" the little boy sobbed. Ben had to fight back tears 

of his own at his son's obvious distress. He rarely thought about there not being many 

children for Joe to associate with. With the running of the ranch keeping him busy from 

sunrise to sunset, some of his youngest son's most basic needs weren't being met.   
  


"I'll try and put it right son" Ben said softly. "I promise, please don't cry."   
  


Ben just held his son for a bit longer. The little boy kept his grip tight around Ben's middle. 

Soon Ben could feel the steady heart beat and rhythmic breathing of Little Joe signalling that 

the boy had fallen asleep.   
  


Ben laid his son's curly head on the soft pillow and ran his hand gently down his face over 

the tear trails left behind. He brushed back a few unruly curls and promised to make an 

effort tomorrow. He would speak to Hoss and Adam too about spending some much needed 

time with their brother.   
  


"Goodnight, my angel" Ben said as he dimmed the lantern and kissed his son on the forehead.   
  


***************************************************************************   
  


The next day was Tuesday, a school day. It started out like all the others:   
  


"Hoss will you go and rouse Little Joe out of bed please and tell him to get dressed for school" 

Ben said over his morning cup of coffee.   
  


"Sure Pa" Hoss replied to the request.   
  


Twenty minutes later a very grumpy Little Joe came down the stairs with his shirt buttoned 

in the wrong holes and no shoes on his feet.   
  


"Come here Joseph, please" Ben said trying not to get cross this time of the morning.   
  


Joe obediently went to his father while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.   
  


Ben re-buttoned the shirt into the right holes and tucked his shirt into his trousers. "Go and 

get your boots please Little Joe. It's almost time for you to leave. I want you to be able 

to eat a reasonable breakfast before you start the day ."   
  


"Yes Pa" Joe answered and went back upstairs to fetch his sock and boots.   
  


He only managed to shovel a few mouthfuls of scrambled eggs and toast into his 

mouth before Adam was hollering at the front door that it was time to leave.   
  


"See you this afternoon Pa and Hoss" the little boy said as he scrambled out the 

door. Ben just shook at his head in dismay as the morsel of food the boy managed 

to eat. That few mouthfuls was supposed to sustain that endless energy until lunch 

time. Ben just hoped that Hop Sing had packed a good lunch for the little boy.   
  
  
The ride to the schoolhouse was very quiet. Adam was too busy thinking about 

the day's projects ahead to talk to his little brother. Joe was still angry at his big 

brother for rousing on him for no reason, so he said nothing to Adam either.   
  


"Hoss or Pa will pick you up this afternoon Little Joe" Adam said as he prepared 

to leave his Little brother in the hands of Miss Jones.   
  


"Aren't you going to pick me up" Joe inquired.   
  


Joe was angry at Adam but he knew that his big brother would be leaving for University in a few 

months and he wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. Even if it meant both of them 

didn't talk to each other. Once Adam left for Boston, the only communication would be 

by letter and that just wasn't the same as being able to look at his brother Adam when he needed 

to talk about something.   
  


"No I haven't got time for that today Joe" Adam said in reply. He didn't realize that his 

little brother would read a different meaning into those words altogether.   
  


Yeah, don't have enough time for me Joe thought to himself.   
  


"I'll see you at home tonight Joe" Adam said trying to make up for not being able to pick 

Little Joe up from school. He intended to be at the lumber camp today and he wouldn't 

have enough time to ride back in time to pick his little brother up.   
  


His brother didn't intend to hear any of Adam's explanations about his excuses. He just 

walked towards the school room with his shoulders hunched and his head hung low.   
  


The morning passed quickly enough. Joe handed in his homework as requested by Miss Jones. 

The teacher looked at his work while see set the children working on a few simple arithmetic 

problems on the blackboard at the front of the room. She frowned at first as Joe's homework 

assignment. It was all smudged but seemed to be correct enough. She promised to herself 

that when she returned from her break, she would spend some extra time with Joe so that he 

could improve his writing skills. The smudges occurred because his hand would move across 

the freshly written words and cause to ink to be spread over the page by his hand.   
  


She had thought it odd when she first seen the little curly head boy writing with the opposite 

hand to everyone else. But in the end, if he was comfortable enough in writing with his left 

hand, who was she to tell him any different. He just needed some guidance and self confidence 

and she was sure that his penmanship would improve considerably.   
  


They all went out to lunch and Joe said with Johnny Scott again for companionship.   
  


"What does your father do, Joe" Johnny asked.   
  


"He and my brothers run a big place for cows. It's called the Ponderosa. It goes for 

miles and miles. You can't even see some parts of it." Joe answered with pride.   
  


"Wow," Johnny replied in earnest "My Pa and me just moved to town. He's a blacksmith. 

He started working at the Livery stable day before yesterday."   
  


"What about your Ma" Joe asked.   
  


Johnny was a little hesitant is answering at first. "She's not here anymore" he said without 

going into any more detail.   
  


Joe could see that the boy didn't want to talk about his mother.   
  


"Yeah, my Ma died too" Joe said. He was ashamed to talk about his mother Marie. But 

it still hurt inside sometimes.   
  


"I bet your Pa takes real good care of you don't he?" Johnny now asked trying to change 

the subject.   
  


"Yeah mostly" Joe replied, this time the hesitation was in his voice. "But lately nothing 

I do seems to make them happy. Especially Adam my big brother. Yesterday I was just 

drawing a picture and he roused at me for drawing at Pa's desk. Told me he was going to 

give me a tanning just for drawing a picture."   
  


"I know what you mean Joe" Johnny said. "I have been in trouble some myself the last 

few days with my Pa. Just wish sometimes there was somewhere we could go. Just to 

be on our own. Know what I mean?"   
  


"Yes, I know what you mean" Joe said. "And I've know the perfect place. It's called 

_Dead Man's Canyon._I don't know how it got it's name. But it's really neat. Me and 

my other big brother Hoss went there once and we called it our "Happy Place'. There's 

all sorts of caves and rocks to climb over. Lots of shady trees and a neat little stream 

that runs right through the middle of the whole place. Someday I'm gonna go there. 

Just me."   
  


Joe thought the need to escape to his little hiding place might come sooner than everybody 

thought, but before he could explain to his friend Johnny anymore, Miss Jones rang the bell 

and told them that recess was now over.   
  


"Want to meet me after school at the lake for some fishing, Little Joe?" Johnny asked before 

the two new friends separated inside the class room..   
  


Joe thought a moment. His Pa didn't normally let him go off without one of his brothers 

looking after him. Maybe he could do his chores quickly enough and sneak away for a few 

minutes anyway. It wasn't as though anybody would notice him not being there anyway.   
  


"Sure Johnny, but I have to do my chores first. I'll meet there after that" Joe replied and 

they quickly rejoined the rest of their class in the schoolroom.   
  


The afternoon then seemed to drag for the little boy who was for the first time in his 

life eager to get home and complete his chores on time. Of course there was another 

reason behind it.   
  


Miss Jones told them how they had done with the problems on the blackboard. Joe 

had managed to get three of the five problems correct. He would have got all five 

right, but his concentration had started to waver towards the end of the lesson and he 

had just made a couple of adding up errors.   
  


"Class before you are dismissed this afternoon, I have a couple of announcements" Miss 

Jones said to the children.   
  


"Firstly, there will be a new homework assignment for tonight" she said and got innumerable 

groans for her efforts. She smiled slightly at the children's over exaggerated response to the 

idea of homework.   
  


"Secondly, tomorrow I will not be here." she continued. This comment was met be stone 

cold silent from the class. The children had never known in their short two years at school 

for the petite little school teacher not to be there waiting for them every morning. 

"I'm sorry to disappoint you all, but I have to travel urgently back East. There are only 

three days left for this school semester, I will be back before school starts again."   
  


A little blond girl Carrie in the front of the class spoke up for everyone else "Who is going 

to teach us Miss Jones" she said in a small voice.   
  


"A nice man by the name of Mr Watson will be here to meet you in the morning. I expect 

that you will all complete that homework assignment for me because I have left instructions 

for Mr Watson to check them all first thing in the morning. Don't worry children, I will miss 

you all terribly over the summer break, but I will be back before you know it. Class dismissed."   
  


Miss Jones failed to note that the most confused look about her news came from a certain 

little boy in the back of the classroom. He got up from his chair and carried his books outside, 

but his mind was still trying to comprehend what she had just told them.   
  


Little Joe had never had any other teacher but Miss Jones. He didn't like the idea of a 

stranger in the class room. He just hoped that the three days Mr Watson was here went 

very quickly indeed.   
  


Hoss was waiting for Little Joe as promised and holding the reins of his little pony Star. 

He could see the confusion written all over the youngster's face: "What's up punkin" 

he asked   
  


Joe looked up in surprise when he heard Hoss talking to him "Oh nothin' Hoss" he 

answered as he climbed aboard his small mount. "Miss Jones says she is going away 

tomorrow. There is going to be a new teacher for the next few days."   
  
  


"Don't worry Little Joe" Hoss said trying to reassure his nervous sibling. "I'm sure this 

new teacher is nice too like Miss Jones. Come on you've got chores to do at home and 

Adam's waiting for you"   
  


Joe had almost forgot about doing his chores quickly enough to meet Johnny down at 

the lake. Without saying another word he spurred his little horse into the fastest pace 

the little horse could manage. He needed to get home in a hurry and get them done.   
  


Hoss just looked at his brother's back in amazement. One minute the kid looked like 

he had just lost his best friend, the next, he was riding so fast he could barely keep up. 

He just shook his head and tried to catch up to his young brother before he fell off the 

little horse and hurt himself.   
  


When Hoss arrived back at the yard, he rode Chubb into the barn and saw his little 

brother trying to unsaddle his horse Star. Even though the horse was small enough 

in size for it's rider, Star's saddle was still too heavy for Little Joe and the little boy 

tumbled backwards into the soft hay from the unexpected weight of the leather saddle 

as he lifted it off his mount.   
  


Hoss chuckled out loud and immediately got a scowl from his little brother in response. 

He immediately got of his own horse and went to help his brother right himself.   
  


"I can do it myself Hoss" Joe yelled back hotly, a little embarrassed at having fallen 

over.   
  


"I was only gonna help you Little Joe" Hoss said to the annoyed little boy.   
  


"Why don't you go and start your egg collecting for Hop Sing" Hoss suggested, trying 

to avert his little brother's hostility from the barn.   
  


"Can I go and play after I finish my chores Hoss?" Joe now asked trying to hide the 

fishing afternoon he had planned with Johnny Scott.   
  


"You can do what you want as long as your chores are done first Little Joe" Hoss said 

in a warning voice "You know what Adam will say if you forget to do them."   
  
  
Joe smiled to himself at the answer he had gotten from his bigger brother and had no reason 

to think that he couldn't meet Johnny down at Lake Tahoe like he had arranged.   
  


So for the next half an hour, Little Joe went happily about collecting the eggs from the hen 

house and then gathering some of the kindling from the wood box outside the barn to take 

into Hop Sing so he could start cooking dinner.   
  


Adam had been inside the house when Little Joe dropped the wood beside the stove in the 

kitchen. Little Joe walked out to see his big brother sitting at Pa's desk looking over some 

of the ranch's accounts.   
  


"Hi Adam" Joe said trying to sound cheerful. "I'm home" he said in a voice that was probably 

a little loud for inside but Joe didn't seem to notice the volume.   
  


"So I hear from your shouting" Adam replied without looking up from his books. "Have you 

got them chores done yet?" he asked his younger brother.   
  


"Yep, almost done" Joe said trying not to let Adam's dark mood get to him.   
  


"Fine" Adam said without to much interest "Supper will be ready in about an hour or so." 

he continued as he kept his mind on the figures in front of him. He wasn't actually trying to 

ignore Joe but at the moment with his father busy at the lumber yard for most of the day, it 

was up to him to make sure that the other chores around the ranch were done every day and 

that included the awful job of paperwork.   
  


Joe's shoulder slumped slightly before he took himself back out the kitchen door. He tried 

hard not to let Adam's lack of interest get to him. He went into the barn and got out his fishing 

pole and hooks and started walking towards Lake Tahoe to meet his new friend Johnny.   
  


Hoss had not seen his little brother headed towards the lake. He was busy trying to get a 

stubborn cow into the corrals and his full attention was needed to avoid the animal becoming 

aggressive and causing trouble.   
  
  
By the time he made the quick five minute walk to the lake, Little Joe's mood had improved 

somewhat and he was whistling once he reached the banks of the lake.   
  


Johnny Scott was already sitting on a rock with his fishing line in the water when he spotted 

Joe and called him over. "Hi Ya Little Joe" Johnny said with a grin. "Didn't think you were 

coming?"   
  


"Had to do some yucky chores first" Joe replied "That big brother Adam of mine is in a bad 

mood again."   
  


"Boy, by the sound of that brother of yours, I'm glad he's not my brother." Johnny said   
  


"Oh he's alright some times, but he had been mad at me almost everyday this week. He 

does it when Pa's away. I can't wait for Pa to come back tonight. He'll want to spend time 

with me."   
  


For the next forty minutes, the two young boys sat on the rock beside the lake with their 

fishing lines in the water. Johnny didn't have much luck at catching anything.   
  


Joe had a fish on his line and was tugging pretty hard to try and reel it in. He stood up 

to try and get some more strength in his actions but no sooner then he had yanked back 

on the line, the fish pulled hard again on the other line. So hard in fact that Little Joe 

was caught unexpectedly and ended up on his knees in the water.   
  


Joe stood up and tried to get a good look at himself. The fishing pole was forgotten 

and started to float away into the deeper water away from him. Joe could see that most 

of his trousers had gotten soaked from the water as had his shirt. He knew that he would 

have to get home and changed quickly before Adam or his Pa saw him otherwise he would 

be in big trouble.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. CHAPTER 2

  
  
  
  


DEAD MAN'S CANYON 

  
  
  
Adam and Hoss were already seated at the dinner table when Joe walked into the house with his sodden trousers and his sodden boots. He was more worried about what Adam's reaction would be and so almost jumped out of his skin at Hop Sing's voice berating him for walking his wet and muddy boots all over the floor.

"Lil boy all wet and dirty. No supper to get washed up and clean. Lil' Joe always make mess for Hop Sing to clean up" the little oriental man said. He turned around and stomped back into the kitchen muttering to himself about having to reheat meals.

Little Joe had been startled at his little cook's words, but now decided he best do as he was told and get cleaned up so he could eat. He hadn't even reached the bottom step of the staircase when he heard another accusing voice behind him yet again:

"And just where do you think you are going?" came the voice dripping with sarcasm. Joe turned around and

looked full on into the angry face of his big brother Adam. Joe proceeded to roll his eyes at Adam in response

to what he knew was inevitable.

The look on Adam's face when he saw the gesture only made the lines in his face deepen with frustration at the

young boy. His eyes narrowed and he widen his stance and placed his hands on his hips in a demanding pose.

"I asked you a question Joe. Where have you been all afternoon?" Adam now asked putting aside

the wet and muddy clothes for the moment. When he had first discovered his young sibling missing he went through

the various stages of anger for the boy's disobedience, fear about where the boy might by and worry about what

sort of trouble he might get himself into all alone. Now it was back to anger as he could see Joe standing before him,

obviously less than hurt but deciding to be rude and obstinate instead.

Little Joe suddenly turned his attention to the flood boards and mumbled his reply "Just went fishin".

"What was that, and stand up straight and face me when I am talking to you" Adam now barked back. Joe stood

there for a minute tracing a pattern on the wooden floor with his muddy boots. Finally he looked back into the

brown eyes of his brother and repeated "I just went fishin' with a friend, that's all".

Adam could feel his temper boiling over and knew that he would need to cool down before dealing with this

child any further tonight. "Get upstairs and when you are cleaned up Hop Sing will bring your supper to your room.

You can wait for Pa to come home and explain your behaviour to him" Adam said as he made himself turn and

walk away from the scene.

Joe was now angry too. He knew he was wet and muddy, but didn't think that was enough cause for Adam to

be so cranky at him. He made his displeasure known by beginning to stomp loudly up the wooden stairs one at

a time and making sure that the noise sounded out hollow from each one as he went.

Adam knew what the kid was doing and could see the kid's defiant manner as turned at the stomping noise:

"And you are restricted to the yard for the next week" he said harshly back at the mop of curly hair. He really

want to say "_For the rest of your life" but refrained._

"So what else is knew" Joe said in an uninterested tone. It wasn't as if he had any free time off the ranch lately

anyway. He was always being restricted to the house or yard. What made today any different? Adam could 

see that the boy was determined to undermine him at every turn and so ignored any more attempts to rile him.

About half an hour later he noticed still cranky but somewhat calmed down boy walk down the stairs to the bathhouse.

Joe had taken about twenty minutes to scrub the dried mud from his body. He gave his hair a wash too 

because he could feel the bits of grit and sand through it as he ran his hair through the curls.

Joe walked from the bathhouse in his nightshirt and spotted Hoss and Adam sitting in the living room. His father still

wasn't home and he started to worry in the back of his mind about why his father might be so late. He looked from

brother to brother before climbing the stairs once more. Adam wouldn't even give him the satisfaction of looking at

him. He got a quick and concealed wry smile from his brother Hoss which said volumes without hearing the words.

Joe could even see the disappointment in the one brother he thought would stand-by him no matter what.

"Night Hoss" Joe said loud enough to emphasis that he had no intentions of saying goodnight to his older brother Adam. 

Joe's attempts to give him the cold shoulder treatment actually brought a slight chuckle to Adam's lips and he fought 

to keep it in until the kid's bedroom door was closed again. 

Joe sat on his bed with his hands behind his head for a long time that night. His meal tray sat where Hop Sing had

left it, untouched. He really had no stomach for any food tonight. He had too many thoughts going around his head.

About an hour after Little Joe went to bed, the front door of the house opened and in came Ben Cartwright. He had

a little mud on his own boots and was dog tired. All he wanted was a hot meal, a hot bath and a nice bed before

going out again in the morning.

Hoss and Adam could see the tiredness etched on their father's face as he hung his hat on the peg behind the door.

Ben had only just managed to unbuckle his gun belt and place it on the credenza when he was greeted by the same

tirade from Hop Sing that Joe had come home too.

"Boss walk mud all over Hop Sing's floor just like son. How son get in trouble when Boss do it too. Nobody

listen to Hop Sing. Move back to China and cook for clean family" he said and went back into the kitchen to

heat Ben's dinner.

Ben was really tired and in no mood for the little oriental man's lectures he did however catch something about

his son getting into trouble. It didn't take much nous to work out which son Hop Sing meant as he looked over

and could see Hoss and Adam sitting in the living room. He sighed loudly and walked over to hear all about the

day's events involving his youngest son Little Joe. He could see from the way Hoss tried not to look at his father

and the less than impressed look on Adam's normally handsome features that something else had happened earlier

in the evening.

"Okay, out with it" he said in a no-nonsense tone. "What's being going on here while I have been gone?"

"Hoss you care to start the conversation" Ben said. Hoss never was good at hiding his feelings or emotions. His

facial expressions gave him away immediately.

"Better ask Adam Pa. I ain't coming between those two at the moment. Liable to get my head taken off by them

both" Hoss said genuinely. 

"Well Adam?", Ben said now standing in a similar fashion as Adam had done with Little Joe earlier. Hands on hips

and in a questioning stance. 

"Little Joe and I just had a little disagreement Pa that's all. I left things alone because I was too mad. I'll talk to him

again in the morning when he's cooled down some." Adam said in exasperation. He really didn't know how his father

coped all the time. Adam thankfully only had to do it every now and then. His relationship had been a positive one

up until now, but with his absence at college looming, the two could barely look at each other without arguing.

"And just what do you need to talk to him about in the morning may I ask?" Ben said getting cranky himself about his

two eldest son's dancing around the problem instead of just coming out plain and saying it.

"He took off from the ranch this afternoon without telling anybody and when he walked in the door he was dripping

with mud" Adam said as he explained the scenario.

  
Ben sighed out loud again and now guessed at why Hop Sing had gone off at him walking mud onto the floor as he

walked in. He rubbed at his temples tiredly and then glanced up the staircase to the closed door.   
  
"I'll go talk to him son" Ben said and started climbing the stairs. Hop Sing had just laid Ben's hot meal out onto the

table when he saw his Boss climb the stairs towards Little Joe's room. Once again he went off into a tirade of Cantonese

as he pulled the plate off the table again and mumbled out loud as he took it back into the kitchen to keep it off.

He knew of course that Ben wouldn't take anytime for himself until the problem with his youngest son was sorted out

first.  
  
Adam had also mumbled some words under his breath about Ben babying his brother too much. He wasn't too annoyed

though and was a little grateful to have someone willing to take the responsibility for a little while. Hoss and Adam soon

retired to their own beds knowing that the following day would be a full one if not a tiresome one.  
  
Ben now carefully opened the door to his son Joseph's room to check if the boy was awake or not. He looked over

and could see the boy turned on his side towards him, appearing to be asleep. Truth was, Joe still had not succumbed 

to sleep and heard his father climb the stairs. He evened out his breathing and closed his eyes so as to act asleep.

Normally Joe would crave his father's touch and presence, even just to say goodnight. But tonight, Joe was still feeling

angry with every one in the world. He didn't feel like being cuddled and babied just to make things better.  
  
Ben quietly closed the door behind him and walked towards the bed. It was now that he could see the full tray of food

left behind by the ever faithful Hop Sing. He sighed wearily at the uneaten food and knew that it was another battle

yet to be won with his son. The battles at the moment just seemed never ending.   
  
Ben could see that he wasn't going to have much conversation with the boy tonight. He had no intentions of waking

the sleeping boy. He sat on the bed giving his tired legs a rest, being careful enough not to disturb Joe. He was

still close enough to be able to reach out and brush back the few stray curls that hung over the boy's forehead.

It took all Joe's inner concentration from opening his eyes and tumbling into the embrace that his father would no

doubt offer. He was determined not to let his weakness show. He knew that Adam would have told his father

everything that happened today. He knew that his father would be unhappy and disappointed in his behaviour 

once again.   
  
"Help me Marie" Ben said as he gently placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Tell me were I am going wrong with

our son. What do I have to change to make things better?"  
  
Joe could scarcely hold back his tears as he heard his father's words to his mother's picture on the bedside table.

"I need your help too O Lord. Hold my hand as I guide him through the years. Show me the patience and understanding 

that I need to learn to help Joseph overcome these troubled times." Ben then gently kissed his sleeping boy and

left the room to go to his own bed for the night. 

  
******************************************************************************************  
  
Early the next morning a still tired but awake Ben sat at the breakfast table sipping his coffee whilst discussing the

day's events with his eldest son Adam.

"I'll have a talk with him when he comes down to breakfast son" Ben told Adam. But I'm afraid with all the problems

at the lumber yard at the moment, I probably won't be back until late tonight again."

"How long do you expect the delays to continue Pa" Adam now asked. 

"Well with one of the blade's broken and some of the men refusing to compensation with some extra work, the

schedule is getting further and further behind. I have tried to hire more men, but there just aren't many men willing

to do the work. I'm sorry son but I need you to run things here at the ranch for the next couple of days." Ben 

said with genuine gratitude in his voice. There were many times in the past that he wondered what he would have

down without the steady guiding hand of his son Adam.   
  
"Don't worry Pa, we'll manage here. Hoss has been a great help. As much as any full grown man" Adam admitted

thinking about his 13 year old brother. He might be only a teenager in years, but Hoss's willingness to put in a good

day's work matched his size and strength.  
  
"I know you will son, but I hate to leave all of the responsibility to you all the time. This trouble with Little Joe

isn't helping any either." Ben said. 

Adam and his father were now joined at the breakfast table by Hoss. "Morning Pa, Morning Adam" Hoss said

in his usual cheery voice. It took a lot before Hoss showed his grumpy side. Something which the rest of

the Cartwright family sadly lacked.

"Morning Hoss" came the reply from both men. "How did you sleep son?" Ben asked Hoss. This was his usual

question to his son's in the morning. 

"Great Pa, I'm hungry though" Hoss replied and started to fill his plate with bacon and eggs. Ben smiled to himself.

He knew that the only time he needed to worry about Hoss in this house was when the boy said he wasn't hungry.

The boy ate a grown man's size meal and a bit more almost every day and was still growing. Sometimes Ben wondered

if Hoss was eating for himself and his little brother Joseph. Considering how much the youngest Cartwright brother

ate, he could very well believe it sometimes.

Ben looked towards Little Joe's closed bedroom door a number of times whilst sipping at his coffee. He tried to hide his glances but knew Adam was intently watching what he was doing. The look on Adam's face told Ben that his eldest son wanted the problems with Joe sorted out by his father. 

"Hoss will you go and rouse your younger brother for school please" Ben said as he glanced yet again at the closed bedroom door. He could not hear any noises on the floor above signalling that Joseph had awoken on his own and taken the initiative to get dressed before anybody came looking for him.

"Sure Pa" Hoss said in a cheery voice. Hoss had forgotten about most of the trouble his brother had been in the night before. Hoss was one to easily forgive and forget and get on with life as though nothing had happened. He was ready to start the new day afresh with everybody being friendly towards each other again.

Hoss was surprised though when he did knock on Little Joe's room and opened the door to see his brother pulling on his socks and shoes. "Morning short shanks" he said happy that he didn't have to go through the almost daily routine of pulling the bedclothes back and yanking Joe to his feet.

"Morning Hoss" Joe said in reply but his voice was already full of annoyance and frustration at the day. It wasn't even 8.00am and already Little Joe was in a bad mood. The bad mood came from being away a great majority of the night trying not to think about the things that had been happening between him and Adam lately.

"Pa is waiting to talk to you downstairs and he ain't about to take any of your sass this morning Joseph" Hoss warned his brother before they exited the room and headed down the stairs towards the breakfast table. Joe just proceeded to poke his tongue out at Hoss as though telling him that he didn't need to be told what to do.

Hoss just sighed to himself and rubbed the bridge of his nose knowing how Adam lost his temper sometimes with this most of wilful of children. He just hoped that Joe knew better than to act badly in front of his father. Tired or not, Ben Cartwright never did put up with back chat or saucy words from any of his sons and they had all come to know it. Joe just like to push the limits as far as he could at his age. Hoss could never remember acting the way that Joe had been lately. Sure he had gotten into his own fair share of trouble when he was younger but never to the extent that his brother did. Joe just seemed to have a knack to attracting trouble.

Joe reached the bottom of the stairs and seemed to drag his feet as he walked to the table with his head hung low. He knew that his father was about to talk to him about his adventures yesterday and he wasn't very happy about getting a dressing down this early in the morning. He looked at his older brother Adam briefly and thought he saw a scowl about the dragging of the feet and the overdrawn out walk to the table. 

"Morning Little Joe" Ben said in a greeting voice. He did want to have a talk with his youngest son about his latest behaviour, but he also wanted to start the day out on the right foot. He could see the unhappy expression on Joe's handsome boyish features and the efforts the boy used to avoid direct eye contact with everybody seated at the table.

"Mornin" came the barely audible mumble as Joe took his seat. He pulled the empty plate in front of him closer as though to put some food on it. He glanced briefly at Adam again and muttered the same mumble of "Good Morning" to his brother.

Adam responded in kind with a bare mumble of his own but his voice betrayed his annoyance slightly and his face still bore the scathing words that he was thinking about saying to Joe about his trip to the lake and his disrespectful tones when he returned home.

Ben waited a few minutes for Joe to have some breakfast before he asked him any questions. He knew that if an argument started from it then Joe would be too upset to eat anything and he would go to school skipping meals again.

Adam thought this ploy merely a delaying tactic on his father's part but didn't say anything out loud to anybody.

Joe had eaten half a dozen mouthfuls of food before setting his fork down on the half-empty plate and picking up his glass of milk to wash it down. It was now that Ben decided to start the conversation.

"Do you have anything to tell me Joseph?" Ben asked, wanting to know if Joe realised the effects of his own behaviour yesterday. Hopefully the boy would realise that he couldn't continue on in the same manner he had been. If he could see the wrongfulness of his behaviour then half of the result had already been achieved.

"About what Pa?" Joe said using his best angelic face. When all else failed, Joe always resorted to using his boyhood charms and puppy dog eyes on his father. They had worked for him many times in the past on both his father and brothers, especially Hoss. He could only hope that they would work for him again today.

Ben sighed aloud and told himself that Joe wasn't really playing mind games with him. Now he decided to use the direct approach to show his displeasure at Joe's vague answer.

"Tell me about what happened to you yesterday when you left the ranch when you weren't supposed to" Ben said in a sterner voice.

"Hoss told me I could" Joe said with all the innocence he could muster. He knew that he had gone about getting his brother's approval in a round about manner, but it had worked and that was all that mattered. All he had to do now was get Adam and his father to believe his story.

Hoss looked the most confused at the mention of his name. He could feel the questioning glances of his father and brother Adam on him as if to dare him to say that he had given the younger boy permission to leave the Ponderosa on his own. Hoss knew that Joe wasn't allowed to go off on his own without telling anybody. He was trying to think back to the various conversations he had with Joe yesterday and when he exactly came out with this agreement he knew nothing about.

Ben wasn't fooled though. One look at Hoss's face and Ben knew that Joe had taken advantage of Hoss's good nature and twisted it to his own gains. Adam just shook his head slightly and also knew that Hoss had been taken in by Joe's cunning and sly game.

"Just exactly what did your brother Hoss say to make you think you could go off without anybody?" Ben now asked of his youngest son, trying not to loose his temper at the child.

Joe however just put on the same angelic mask as he had done before. He too was determined not to loose his temper this morning. Loosing his temper would not only cause his father to get angrier at him, but to Joe would also make the story he was trying to weave fall apart and admit his knowledge and guilt in the whole affair. If he looked genuinely innocent enough and told his father just how he saw the words spoken to him, there was nothing to say that his father wouldn't believe him.

"I asked Hoss if I could go off and play after I finished school and he said that I could do whatever I wanted as long as I finished my chores" Joe said.

Ben smiled inwardly as he could plainly see that Joseph had intentionally left out certain bits of information to Hoss that would have shed more light on what the smaller boy exactly planned to do after school. 

"That's not what I meant and you know it Joe" Hoss said a little annoyed at his brother. 

"What did you exactly mean Hoss?" Adam asked with a voice that dripped of cynicism. Adam looked at Hoss with a face that shouted he was just itching to know what Hoss had meant when he said the words.

"I think we all know that Joe knew all to well that Hoss didn't mean for you to be wandering off on your own, don't we Joseph" Ben said and looked at his youngest son with scolding words in his tongue. 

The look was enough though and Joe felt himself shrinking into the seat trying to avoid his father's intent gaze. 

Ben now changed the tone of the conversation all together and now spoke in a very gentle voice. One that sounded like he was more worried that angry. "Joseph," he said and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder for emphasis "You brothers and I just want to make sure you are safe. That's why there are rules about where you can go and where you can't on your own. It's not that we want to keep you from playing or meeting your friends. There are many things that could happen to you when we don't know where you are. You might get into trouble and nobody will be there to help you because we don't know where you are. Do you understand son?"

The softer touch had done it's job as Ben watched tears trickle down the young boy's face in remorse. The idea that Joe worried his family was a better weapon than threatening the boy for lying and conniving against them.

"Yes Pa" Joe said as he tried to choke back his tears. He wiped them onto his sleeve and then shyly said he was going to be late for school.

"See you this afternoon Joseph" Ben said as he gave his son an awkward hug. 

Hoss felt just as awkward as Joe after a while and excused himself saying that he would go with Joe to make sure he got to school okay.

Adam and Ben sat at the table for a while without saying anything. Both of them had different approaches as to how they handled the youngest member of the family, but Adam had to admit that his father often got the better results. His method might be more flawed or be gentler and softer in punishment, but they had the same impact almost as the boy getting a stern lecture or spanking.

"I have to be going too son" Ben now said to his eldest son. He apologized a few more times about being away from the ranch for such long periods of time and leaving Adam in charge again. He promised he would let Adam know how things were going later in the day.

Adam sat at the table sitting at his coffee and trying to figure out how to mend the relationship between him and Little Joe. He was planning to go away to college very soon and different want to leave the current tension between them all that time. He finally made himself get up and attend to the work that needed to be done outside. These thoughts were never far from his mind the entire day though and he went about the chores.

AUTHORS NOTES – SORRY PEOPLE FOR LEAVING THIS ONE SO LONG – WORKING ON QUITE A FEW OTHERS AT THE MOMENT – I PROMISE TO MAKE A BETTER EFFORT TOWARDS THIS STORY AND FINISH IT OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. 

BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY THAT I DO REALLY LIKE ADAM. SOMETIMES I WRITE THAT HE APPEARS A LITTLE HARSH AT FIRST BUT THEN THE CLOSENESS BETWEEN HIM AND THE REST OF THE FAMILY COMES LATER.

THIS STORY IS NOT ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JOE AND ADAM. THIS IS JUST BACKGROUND INFORMATION THAT ADDS TO THE TENSION AS THE STORYLINE GROWS. JOE BECOMES THE VICTIM AFTER A SUBSTITUTE TEACHER TAKES A DISLIKE TO HIM. IT IS THIS TOGETHER WITH THE HAPPENINGS AT HOME THAT CAUSE JOE TO THINK THAT NOBODY IN THE WORLD WANTS OR LOVES HIM AND THAT HE NEEDS TO GO SOMEWHERE ON HIS OWN FOR A WHILE (ALL IN THE MIND OF A SEVEN YEAR OLD). HE HEADS TO 'DEAD MAN'S CANYON' WHICH HAS THAT NAME FOR A REASON…………….. HOPE YOU ALL KEEP READING AND LETTING ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. CHAPTER 3

  
  
  
  


DEAD MAN'S CANYON 

  
  
  


Joe had dawdled a little on the ride to school the next morning. He was still trying to sort out what he felt inside about

what had been said at the breakfast table that morning. Although he had been cranky about Adam and his bullying 

tactics when his father left him in charge, he had never wanted to worry his brother about being missing.

Hoss had seen his little brother lost deep in thought and had tried a couple of times to get the youngster to talk about

his problems. Joe however was in no talking mood and either fell back behind Hoss or rode a few paces in front to

avoid the conversation all together.

Joe unsaddle his horse and put him in the stall near the schoolyard. Hoss did the same whilst keeping a trained eye

on his younger brother to see if he was willing to share what was wrong with him.

"Have a good day today Little Joe" Hoss said cheerfully to his brother and Joe walked away from the stalls towards

the classroom. 

"Um 'kay" was the half-hearted reply Hoss got.

Joe had arrived just before the bell rang so there was no time to talk to his friends before school this morning, but

he didn't mind. He took his place at the back of the classroom as always and waited for the teacher to arrive.

When he first saw Mr Watson the little boy had almost forgotten that there was going to be a substitute teacher today.

He frowned at first when the stout little man stood at the front of the classroom but then he sort of remembered that

Miss Jones said there would be a new teacher for a few days. 

_Only three more days to go Joe thought silently to himself. It was going to be a very long day today. He didn't_

feel much like doing schoolwork.

"Attention boys and girls" the teacher said in a loudish voice to get the children to take notice. He was a well-educated

man but he came from a background which saw him teaching in a school for boys. The students were of a much

older age and he made sure that they worked in a classroom of strict rules and discipline. He intended to make sure

that these young people, although much younger, that a similar respect of the rules and a certain standard of discipline

applied. Once students were allowed to stray from their studies, the problem only got worse as they got older. 

"My name is Mr Watson. You may call me Sir" he said sharply and looked sternly at a couple of boys in the front

row who were not giving him their full attention.

"I will be your teacher for the next few days whilst your regular teacher Miss Jones is away on family matters. Miss

Jones has told me what lessons you are to do before the holidays commence. I will assign homework every night

and expect it on my desk first thing in the morning ready to be checked. Anybody not doing their homework or

not doing it in a suitable manner will be punished." Watson said.

Some of the children whispered to each other. Never before had Miss Jones threatened to punish them if they didn't

do their homework. There were a number of occasions where she had told them how disappointed she had been

about them not doing it and there had even been occasions where they were expected to stay in at recess time or after

school to complete it. But never had the teacher told them that they would be punished. What did punish mean

exactly. Punish was something your folks did at home when you were particularly naughty or bad.

Little Joe was as surprised as the rest of his classmates about the teacher's harsh treatment. Although Miss Jones 

wasn't the best teacher, at least she didn't yell at them or threaten to punish them. He didn't think he was going to

like this Mr Watson very much. 

The morning progressed very slow for the little students. They found Mr Watson's approach to teaching very

difficult. He was either shouting out his instructions or standing behind them making sure they were doing their

work. If he saw them not doing something right he would be yelling at them to do it all over again. He was beginning

to become frustrated. He found this style of teaching almost below his normal standards. He was supposed to be

teaching students who had the gift of learning. Here he was teaching in some backwards town in the middle of 

nowhere to a bunch of children who could barely even write their own names correctly.

Mr Watson had kept his eye on one student in particular for the remainder of the morning. A little curly haired

boy in the back of the classroom with green eyes. The boy wasn't being disobedient. But neither was he paying

attention to the class. On a number of occasions, Watson had deliberately caught the boy staring out into space

through the open window not far away. He had berated the boy and told him to pay attention but a few minutes

later he looked over and the boy's gaze had wandered out the window yet again. Watson could feel his temper

start to rise. He couldn't prove that the boy was ignoring his class on purpose.

The bell rang and it was soon time for lunch. All of the children were shouting and yelling excitedly, ready to head

out into the playground.

"Sit down class" Mr Watson roared in annoyance. "You will wait until you are told you can go outside for lunch."

He made the children sit in total silence for a further five minutes, constantly checking his watch before he looked

up and said "You may all go outside for recess, except that boy at the back of the room" he instructed. He had

yet to learn the youngster's name.

"Me?" cried a little blond haired boy sitting next to Little Joe, alarmed that the teacher seemed to single him out of

the rest of the class. Timmy was sure he had done most of the work set and paid attention for most of the morning.

"No not you, the other boy beside you" Watson said as he pointed his finger directly at Little Joe.

It was now Joe's turn "Me?" he said in utter astonishment. He hadn't said but a word all morning. He had been

thinking too much about what had been happening at home over the last day or so. He couldn't think of anything

that he had done wrong.

"Yes you" Watson said back determinedly. "What is your name?" he asked curtly.

"Joe Cartwright" he replied.

"Well Mr Joe Cartwright, I see that you managed to not pay attention for most of my entire class this morning.

For you behaviour you will stay inside the classroom during your lunch time and do the work that you didn't do whilst

you were busy staring out the window" Watson now said.

"You can't do that" Joe cried out with a little temper starting to creep in his voice. 

"Oh but I can young man. You see it fit to waste my time when you supposed to be listening to my class so I will

do the same and waste your free time where you will do the work set." Watson said.

Hoss usually didn't eat his lunch with his younger brother and so didn't particularly miss the youngster's presence

in the play ground that day. Hoss usually ate his lunch by himself near the horses. When he was finished the 

lunch that Hop Sing packed he would spend the rest of his lunch break, patting and rubbing the animals noses.

Hoss didn't think he fitted well with the rest of his classmates and so was more comfortable talking to the animals.

At least they didn't tease him about his undue size or have something to say about his learning ability. Most people

just assumed before of his size that he wasn't very bright like his little brother. Hoss didn't try and correct them

though on his point. If people couldn't take the time to learn more about him and learn just how smart he could

be then he didn't think it was worth wasting time on them becoming his so-called friends.

"I will be back in ten minutes and I want to see you working solidly on the problems I set this morning. Any mistakes

and you will stay after school if necessary" Watson warned.

Watson walked out of the classroom and left Joe to do the assigned task during the lunch break.

Joe could feel the pains of hunger in his stomach but didn't dare defy the teacher by trying to sneak a bite of his

lunch to quell the emptiness. He began doing the problems that had been completed by the rest of the class earlier

that morning. He was fuming the whole time and kept muttering to himself about the _dumb old teacher and_

hoping that the afternoon lessons went by very quickly.

Watson had been gone from the class room about thirty minutes and came back to check on his student about

ten minutes before the other children were due to come back for their afternoon lessons. He could see the boy

with his head down towards his books. At least the boy was still sitting there. He had doubts that the boy would

actually do what he was told.

His gaze though was diverted as he watched the boy work at the work he had set. His brows narrowed and he

stared intently at the boy for a moment , trying to figure out if what he was seeing was actually true. He kept looking

for a few more minutes and finally realised that it was true, the boy was trying to write with his left-hand.

Watson's frown deepened now as he tried to determine if the action was a deliberate one to annoy him. Maybe the

boy saw fit to make fun of him because he was kept in at lunch time. But the boy still didn't seem to even notice his

presence in the room. 

"Um-hum" Watson interrupted deliberately and loudly, startling the boy who was concentrating on what was in front

of him. Joe looked up at the teacher after regaining his composure. He didn't like the idea of the teacher sneaking

up on him to see what he was doing.

"Are you trying to mock me boy" the teacher said in a warning tone of voice. "Because if you are I can assure you

a lesson in manners you will never forget."

"Mock you" Joe said in confusion trying to stop his own temper rising. The teacher was accusing him of doing 

something wrong but he didn't have a clue as to what it was. Joe was hungry and tired and didn't feel much like

butting heads with this man for the rest of the afternoon.

"When I came in just now you were scribbling on your page with your left-hand" Watson now said, over-emphasising

the action, hoping that the boy would pick up on what he meant.

Joe scowled a little at the word _scribbled. It sounded like the teacher was talking to him about being five and_

writing on a piece of paper like a first grader might do. "Yes I was" Joe finally admitted, not knowing what else to

say to the teacher.

"People don't write with their left-hand's boy" the teacher now told him. "It's unheard of in school and anybody 

who is found to be writing with the wrong hand is soon given very strict instructions on how to write properly."

"But I have always written with my left hand" Joe said in his defence.

"Then such nonsense is to stop this instance. It is obvious that your regular teacher Miss Jones has had very little

experience as a teacher or she would have taken appropriate action. I will send a note home to your parents 

and see to it that they are made aware of your improper writing action." Watson replied.

"Nobody has ever told me that it was wrong before" Joe now said.

"Well it's about time somebody set you straight boy or you will fall behind the rest of the class and never catch

up." Watson replied. 

Watson was prevented from saying anything further about the matter due to the other students coming into the 

classroom. All of them looked towards Joe with sympathy written all over their faces. They were praying that

they didn't feel the wrath of the teacher before the afternoon was out.

For the remainder of the afternoon Joe tried to pay attention to his classes but every time he seemed to look

towards Mr Watson, the man was only looking at the pencil in his left-hand. The man would shake his head 

as though in disappointment and give Joe a stern look to remind him that he was writing with the wrong hand.

Joe could feel himself shrinking further and further down into his chair as the teacher's gaze remained on him

until the bell rang for home time.

"Mr Cartwright here is the note to your father telling him about what I saw today. I hope that your father is

an intelligent man and understands the need for your behaviour to be changed immediately if he is to prevent

your education being further hampered than it already is" Watson said to the boy.

Joe only caught some of the words spoken. It sounded like the teacher was telling him that he had a fatal disease

or something rather than him writing with what he called the wrong hand.

As Joe left the classroom he kept thinking about his left-hand. He looked down at it trying to work out what

was so different about it. He looked at his right hand and couldn't see any difference on the outside. His mother

Marie had taught him to write and he had always used his left hand in front of her. Why didn't she tell him that

it was wrong to write with his left hand?   
  
Joe was still looking at his hands when he approached Hoss and the horses. Hoss had already saddled Joe's 

horse for him and now looked at the boy as he walked over towards him. The boy was staring down intently

as his hands. Hoss couldn't see anything wrong with them. He was hoping his brother was in a better frame

of mind from when they had arrived this morning.  
  
"Something the matter short shanks?" Hoss said in a cheerful mood.

  
"Huh, oh nothing Hoss. Just thinking that's all" Joe answered as he took the reins of his horse from Hoss and

mounted to start heading home.

On the way home, Hoss tried to drum up a conversation with his brother to pass the time. He had tried a number

of different topics such as fishing and hunting but Joe seemed interested very little in any of them.  
  
Hoss had just about given up on his brother and was prepared to ride the rest of the way home in total silence

when it was Joe's turn to start a conversation.  
  
"Hoss which hand do you write with?" Joe said, thinking it was a simple enough question.

"Well that's easy little brother, my right hand" Hoss answered just as simply. He didn't realise though that a seven

year old boy with troubles on his mind would read more than simplicity into his answer. Did Hoss mean his right

hand as in left and right or did he mean his right hand because it was the proper hand to write with like Mr Watson

said.  
  
Joe couldn't decide which was the correct answer so he decided to watch his older brother Adam later on that night

and see which hand he wrote with. Adam would use the correct hand he assumed. Adam usually knew about

most things Joe had a need to ask about. 

For now, the sealed envelope addressed to Mr Cartwright was still tucked away in his shirt pocket and almost

forgotten about during the ride home.  
  
When they finally got home Joe put his question of right and left aside for the time being as he went about his chores.

His father wasn't home yet from the timber yard and he had completed the egg collecting and wood collecting as

usual. He was bored and looking for something else to do. Adam and Hoss were handling the heavier chores of 

feeding the livestock.   
  
Joe walked into the barn and wondered what he could do until it was supper time. He didn't really like chores that

much but he saw a pitchfork leaning up against one of the stable walls and decided that he would help out his older

brother's with their chores. That way he might have more time to talk to Adam later on after they were all finished

about his problem.   
  
The handle of the pitchfork was a little bit long for a seven year old but using small movements, Joe managed to

successfully manoeuvre the fork tines back and forth through the straw. He didn't get a lot on of fork each time

he lifted it but he felt like he was helping his family by help out. He continued this routine uninterrupted for the

next five minutes or so. While he worked, Joe's mind kept wandering back to what Mr Watson had said about

him at school today. He started to ask himself whether people who wrote with their left-hand were really as bad

as he said they were.  
  
Joe was brought back to reality by the yelling of his name from behind. Joe almost jumped out of his skin he was

so deep in thought. He whirled around, holding the fork outwards without realising it.

"JOSEPH" the voice called in sharp alarm.

As he turned he came face to face with an angry looking Adam who looked even madder when he had to jump

back quickly to avoid the tines of the fork from piercing his trouser leg and possibly his leg even.

"Adam" Joe said sheepishly, apologizing to his brother about the fork almost hitting him. He was about to say

sorry again when Adam's demanding question came first.

"What do you think you are doing _little boy?" Adam now said in a voice that was very low in pitch. He was_

telling himself to calm down and not get too angry at the boy.

Joe found his own temper rising at the mention of the words _little boy. Although he knew he was far from being_

full grown, Joe didn't think he needed to be reminded that he was the youngest member of the family too often.

Adam however found it necessary to tell this to the whole world all the time and Joe was sick of it. He was

hungry from lunch and still hadn't had anything to eat due to him thinking to hard about his problem.   
  
"What does it look like I am doing?" Joe snapped back before he heard how harsh the words sounded. He 

immediately shut his mouth as he looked into the dark smouldering brown eyes of his brother standing before him.  
  
"I asked you a simple question boy" Adam now said through clenched teeth as he struggled to keep his temper.

"What are you doing with that fork in your hand. Your lucky it wasn't Pa that caught you. You are too young

to use the pitchfork."  
  
"I was just trying to help out" Joe said, feeling as though his efforts were rarely appreciated around there. It didn't

seem to matter who it was today, he just seemed to rile everybody.  
  
Adam's expression softened a little at the look on the boy's face. He probably did think he was helping out.

Adam's anger had been more out of wrong of the boy injuring himself on the sharp prongs of the fork than anything

else. How was he going to explain to his father that his youngest son, the one Ben treasured above them all that the

boy had been stabbed by a pitchfork. He shuddered at the thought of such a disaster.  
  
"I know you thought you were helping buddy, but that work is too dangerous for you. How about you go and

see if you can find Hop Sing in the kitchen and help him with supper?" Adam now suggested, hoping the boy's

feelings weren't too deeply hurt.  
  
Joe didn't say anything to the suggestion. Coming from Adam he felt it was almost an order rather than a suggestion

to occupy his time. He leaned the pitchfork up against the wall of the stall again and walked past his brother

without so much as a word. He didn't want his tongue to run away with him and say something that his behind might

regret.  
  
Adam watched his brother walk out of the barn with his shoulders slumped and his whole posture telling him that 

something was troubling the boy. He promised himself and his brother that he would find out what. He doubted that

Joe would openly tell him what was wrong. He sighed loudly, letting his frustration and worry out before getting

back to helping Hoss with the remaining chores before supper time.  
  
****************************************************************************************  
  
Joe walked back to the house and headed into the kitchen, not really wanting to help Hop Sing with supper. 

When he entered the kitchen he could smell the rich aromas of meat and vegetables. With an empty stomach 

for most of the day, the smells were almost overwhelming and his stomach grumbled loudly in protest.  
  
Joe was still thinking about what had happened at school today and his mind was elsewhere rather than 

concentrating on where he was going. He accidentally bumped into Hop Sing near the stove as the little 

oriental man carried a saucepan of hot water. Some of the scalding water sloshed over the side of the pan 

and Joe let go a yelp of pain as it splashed on the top of his arm as it soaked through his shirt.  
  
"Yeeahow" he screamed as he quickly pulled his arm away and grabbed at the pained area. The water was 

very hot and his arm was stinging badly.  
  
Hop Sing went off into a tirade of Cantonese about what Joe was doing in the kitchen in the first place and

then about not watching where he was going. It was all out of worry for the boy and guilt over an accident

that might not have been totally his fault but had caused pain to someone he deeply cared fore.

Hope Sing was trying to grab a hold of the boy's arm to get a look at the burn site. He wanted to get the 

boy to put his arm underneath the hand pump near the sink so he could run some cool water over the scald

mark. 

At the moment Joe was being particularly difficult and was determined not to let the little man near his arm.

Every time Hop Sing reached his arm out to gently grab a hold of the boy, Joe quickly pulled his arm away in

the opposite direction.  
  
"It's okay Hop Sing. It doesn't hurt that much" Joe said as he still winced in pain as he grabbed at his sleeve.

Before Hop Sing could say anything further, Joe then went out of the kitchen into the lounge room and towards

the staircase. When he got to his bedroom he closed the door and leaned up against it from the inside.

Hop Sing had followed closely behind Joe, worried about the burn but the door would open no matter how

much he pounded on it. 

It was his shouting out to Joe to open the door and the initial yelp of pain that soon brought Adam and Hoss

inside wondering about what all the yelling was about.

"What's going on Hop Sing?" Adam asked. He could hear the little oriental man shouting at Joe on the other

side of the door but his brow turned into a frown at the genuine concern he saw on Hope Sing's face. He 

knew that the man wasn't shouting at his brother because he was angry or upset.

"Lil' Joe knock pot of hot water out of Hop Sing hand. Burn arm. Want to help but Lil Joe don't let me look

at it. Need look at arm Mr Adam. Boy in pain." he explained.

  
"Go and get a washcloth and a bowl of cold water please Hoss" Adam now said as his own concern for his brother's

welfare started to increase.

Adam now did some knocking on Joe's bedroom door of his own "Joe, it's Adam. I want to know if you are

alright?"  
  
Hoss returned with the bowl of water and cloth "Any answer?"   
  
"No, but I am not waiting any longer" Adam said sternly and now attempted to turn the handle on the door. He

was determined to go into the room with an invitation from Joe or without. He was a little surprised when the

lock turned without any resistance. The door wasn't locked as he first thought.  
  
Hop Sing and Hoss were both ready to follow Adam into the room to check on Joe but one stern look from him

and they both backed out of the doorway and waited in the hallway.  
  
When Adam entered the room, he was amazed to see the bed empty. He thought the boy was simply ignoring 

them or maybe he had gone to sleep. He didn't stop to think that he wasn't actually in the room to hear the

shouting or the knocking on the door.

A gentle breeze blew through the room, billowing the thin curtain in the window. This told Adam where the

young boy was. He placed the cloth in the bowl of water and the bowl on the bedside table and looked out

the window to see the slim frame of his brother sitting hunched up on the tiles of the roof eave. He didn't 

feel like talking to Joe with the wall of the bedroom between them so he too climbed out onto the roof.

At first Joe was surprised to see anybody else out on the roof. He had climbed out there as soon as he entered

his room, wanting to be alone. He had heard Hop Sing's hammering on his door and the shouting to get his

attention. He simply chose to shut it out.  
  
When Joe actually saw who it was getting out onto the roof with him he was even more surprised and a little

apprehensive. He didn't know if Adam was there to talk or to give him a lecture about something or even

worse a tanning.   
  
"Mind if I join you?" Adam asked, trying to keep the conversation simple before he started asking Joe about

the real reason why he was sitting out on the roof all alone.

"It's a free country" Joe retorted back with a voice devoid of any emotion.

Adam told him to count to ten and keep a hold on his temper. He heard the voice and the lack of emotion in

it and knew that what had been troubling Joe back in the barn this afternoon was obviously still something on

his mind. And it sounded like it was making the boy even more short tempered than usual.  
  
"Hop Sing send you out here?" Joe asked. He could feel Adam's eyes on him.

"He's worried about you if that's what you mean." Adam replied. "He thought you might have hurt yourself

with that hot water."  
  
Joe deliberately looked down at his sleeve. The material was now only slightly damp but the pain was still

there when he thought about it. "It's okay I guess, still hurts a bit." he admitted and then resumed his gaze

out over the yard area from his lofty position.  
  
"How about you let me take a look at it for you inside and you and I can have a talk about what's been

troubling you." Adam now suggested. With the boy replying harshly to anything that was said to him over the

last couple of days, Adam wasn't quite ready for the almost submissive boy that obediently did as he asked

and got to his feet ready to climb into through the window again.  
  
Adam followed his younger brother into the bedroom. Joe laid on his bed and let out a loud sigh of frustration

and pain, while Adam reclaimed the bowl of water and cloth. Joe sat without saying anything at all as Adam

sat on the side of the bed and started to roll up the sleeve of Joe's injured arm. 

"It might be easier if you took your shirt off Joe" Adam suggested softly, as he looked at the stony expression

on the boy's face. His lips were taught as though he was grimacing about something. 

Truth was the boy was still thinking about what the teacher had said about him being backwards today. It was 

the same thing that had been bothering him since he arrived home from school. When he had caused the accident

in the kitchen with the boiling water, he couldn't help but think that maybe people were right when they thought

he was useless and no good. He couldn't seem to do anything right today.

Joe complied with Adam's request and took off his shirt so his arm could be tendered to. Adam inwardly 

gasped at the large reddened area that appeared just below the shoulder on Joe's right arm. The skin around

the area was beginning to blister and pucker at the corners. It must still be hurting the boy a little he told himself.

  
Adam dampened the cloth in the water and then as gently as he could placed the wet material over the reddened

area. Joe gasped a little at the pain but the cool water then seemed to stop the stinging sensation and he was almost

grateful for Adam's administrations.  
  
"Anything you want to tell me Joe?" Adam now asked as he kept one eye on what he was doing with Joe's arm

and the other on his brother's face.

"Not really" Joe answered casually. He thought about talking to Adam about what the teacher said about him.

"Are you sure?" Adam asked again, now drying the burned skin. He then gently rubbed in a soothing ointment

that would restore some of the moisture into the burned area. He then placed wrapped a bandage around the

area and tied off the ends.

"Thanks" Joe mumbled as he looked down at his brother's nursing abilities, ignoring his brother's question

all together.

"I don't think it's too serious. Must have hurt a little though. I can take a look at it again before you go to school

in the morning if you like?" Adam now said as he stood up and cleared up the bowl of water and other things he

had used.  
  
"When is Pa due home?" Joe now asked, changing the entire conversation. Right at this moment he yearned for

his father's touch and understanding more than ever.  
  
Adam could read this and couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the boy who obviously was looking for

a fatherly point of view to his troubles. Maybe if Ben was home Joe would open up to him and tell him what the

trouble was. His father was likely to have more success than he was having at the moment.  
  
"I'm sorry Joe, but I don't think he is going to be home until after dark tonight. There have been a lot of problems

at the timber yard and Pa is needed to sort things out." Adam explained. _I think you are needed home right_

_at__ the moment too Pa: Adam said silently to himself.  
  
"Ready to go downstairs for a bit before supper?" Adam now asked knowing that Hop Sing and Hoss would _

still be worried about Joe and the burn.

"Yeah" Joe muttered in an uninterested voice again. He really just wanted to sit on his own again but did Adam's

bidding and followed him out the bedroom door downstairs to the living room. Hop Sing had returned to the

living room and Hoss was sitting in Pa's blue leather chair.  
  
"You okay punkin'?" Hoss no sooner had Joe put his foot on the last step. 

"I'm okay Hoss" Joe answered and went to sit on the settee. A look from Adam to Hoss told the middle Cartwright

boy that Joe was stilling wrestling with something. 

Adam went into the kitchen to enquire about supper and also to tell Hop Sing about Joe being okay. Adam told

the little oriental man about dressing the burn and how it didn't look too serious. He could see relief in the little cook's

face. 

About fifteen minutes later the three boys sat down at the table ready to eat supper. Joe was seen to look at Ben's

empty chair and sigh. Hoss and Adam both hoped that Ben would soon return home for their brother's sake.  
  


Ten minutes later and not much food had been eaten from the boy's plate. He had pushed a few things around to

make it look as though he had but he had only managed to play with the fork. His head remained bowed and he

barely acknowledged his two brother's presence at the table.  
  
"May I be excused?" Joe asked. Adam could see that starting the battle all over again about his eating wasn't going

to solve anything tonight, and therefore reluctantly agreed to Joe leaving the table with his dinner mostly untouched.

Joe went back to his place on the settee and now stretched out slightly, leaning his head back against the cushioning

of the couch's armrest. Within a few minutes he looked to have fallen asleep.  
  
Adam and Hoss's conversation at the dinner table was mostly about Joe's moody behaviour over the last day or so

and what they were going to do about it. Just as they too were about to leave the dining table, the front door burst

open and their father walked wearily through it.

Ben unbuckled his gun-belt and hung his hat on the pegs behind the door, glancing briefly at Hoss and Adam,

"Hello boys" he greeted. He frowned a little when both of them shushed him quiet and pointed in the direction of

the settee.

Ben crept over to the settee and looked down at the sight of his youngest son, appearing to be sound asleep. It

brought a lump to his throat no matter how tired he was. His frown soon returned though as it dawned on him

that the boy was wearing no shirt and a bandage now adorned his son's left upper arm.

Ben gave a questioning look to Adam, not wanting to disturb Joe. Adam motioned for Ben to come closer to

them and a litter farther away from the settee and they would explain.

Adam then proceeded to tell Ben about Joe's moody afternoon and the incident in the barn with the pitchfork.

Ben had then been told about the mishap in the kitchen with Hop Sing and the boiling water, resulting in the

bandage on Joe's arm. Adam assured him that the burn was painful but not serious enough to warrant Paul's

presence.

Ben brow furrowed deeply in concern as he listened to what had been happening to his youngest son while he

was forced to be at the timber yard. He agreed with his two eldest sons that Joe's odd behaviour needed 

more attention than they had been affording him. For the second night in a row he promised that he would have

a talk to Joseph in the morning and try to figure out what was troubling him so much.

"Maybe I should stick closer to home tomorrow?" Ben finally said, willing to forgo other commitments when his

son needed to come first.

"I don't think that's totally necessary Pa." Adam said, not wanting to diminish his father's concern. "Joe will be

at school most of the day anyway so you can't be there with him then. Maybe if you could make it home a littler

earlier it would help." he then added.

"I just hate it when he knows something is wrong but won't share it with us. We are his family. He should know

to come to us with any problem he has and we will help him through it." Ben said.

"I take him upstairs and put him to bed anyway since I haven't been here for the other things that have happened 

today." Ben now announced. He walked over to the settee and where his youngest son lay asleep.

Ben stood there for a few seconds, perfectly content enough to stand there and drink in the sight of innocence in

it's purest form. He then placed one arm underneath his son's knees and one around Joe's slim shoulders and

lifted him into his arms. The boy weighed next to nothing so he was not a burden to his father's strong arms.

Joe stirred a little when he felt himself being lifted. He opened his eyes a little and wasn't sure if he was dreaming

or not. "Pa?" he whispered, still not sure if his eyes were telling him the truth or not.

"Hello son" Ben replied softly with a smile. "You've had a rough time of it this afternoon I hear?" he then said

as he carried his son up the stairs to his bedroom.

Joe chose not to answer his father's question about his injured arm. He was content though for some of Ben's

old fashioned fussing and laid his head against his father's broad chest. Ben could feel his son's need to be 

close to him right at this moment and he was willing to comply.

Ben lowered Joe onto the bed and started to take Joe's boots off. Joe lay against the soft white pillows with his

eyes mostly closed, just content enough for his father to be in the room. Ben then gently removed the boy's

trousers and put a loose night shirt over his curly head, ready for bed.

"How are you feeling now son?" Ben asked as he made himself more comfortable on the edge of the bed,

pulling Joe into his embrace once again so that his son's curly head lay against his chest again.

"I'm okay Pa" Joe said in a quiet voice.

For the longest time he and his father just lay there in silence, enjoying the closeness that they both looked forward

to. It was Joe however who finally broke the silence with a question.

"Do you think I am backwards Pa?" Joe asked simply, not enlightening his father anymore as to where the insinuation

came from.

"Backwards?" Ben asked a little perplexed by the question. It sounded like such an unusual question for such a 

young boy.

"No I don't think your backwards Joseph, why do you think you are?" he replied and then asked a question of his

own.

"Oh just some of the things that have been happening lately. I can't seem to do anything without tripping over my

own feet or somebody else's that's all." Joe replied "Just like today when I knocked into Hop Sing in the kitchen

and burnt my arm." he said using it as an example.

"Oh Joe, sometimes accidents happen for no reason at all" Ben now said trying to reassure his son. "Nobody

thinks your backwards son."

Joe continued to lay back against his father, but still unconvinced. He knew of at least one person who thought 

he was. Mr Watson.

Ben gently began caressing his son's forehead in a soothing and gentle show of affection. It wasn't long before it

had the desired effect and Joe started to drift off to sleep. Ben only hoped that when asleep Joe would forget all

about his problems and get a restful night's sleep.

AUTHOR – SORRY IT TOO SO LONG TO UPDATE FOLKS – I PROMISE IT WON'T BE SO LONG

NEXT TIME – HAVE MADE A SMALL NUMBER OF CHANGES FROM MY ORIGINAL IDEA BUT

NOT SO AS YOU WOULD NOTICE. HOPE YOU ARE LIKING THE STORY SO FAR.

JULES


	4. CHAPTER 4

DEAD MAN'S CANYON  
  
  
  
The next day saw a whole new routine happening on the Ponderosa. Joe was still asleep while the rest of his family were already seated at the breakfast table discussing what each was to do.  
  
"I don't think it would hurt for just one or two days Pa" Adam now said as he took a sip from his coffee cup.  
  
Adam and Hoss had just finished trying to explain to a dubious Ben about Hoss being allowed to stay home today and the next to help Adam out on the ranch. They had already lost some of the men at the lumber yard where Ben was needed that day. A few hands had been told to move on by Adam over the last few days because of their laziness and like of something to drink.  
  
"I promise I will do my best Pa" Hoss now said pleading with his father. It was no secret that Hoss would rather be working on the ranch like the rest of the men rather than sitting in a hot school room all day.  
  
"It will be the summer holidays after tomorrow anyway" Adam now said, seeing the hopefully look in his brother's blue eyes. Although Adam wasn't normally a supporter of ditching school, he did have some knowledge of his brother's yearning to be with the livestock.  
  
"What about his schoolwork that's left?" Ben now said, playing with Hoss's emotions a little. He knew that being this close to the school holidays that there wouldn't be too much study left to be done.  
  
"Aw Pa, Miss Healy says that we only got to go over the same stuff we have being doing the last few months." Hoss said. He knew all about what Ben thought of a good solid education in life.  
  
Adam had gone all the way through school and would soon be heading off to college in San Francisco. Deep down Hoss just hoped that his father didn't want him following in his older brother's footsteps. Learning books had never had much of a hold on the middle Cartwright son.  
  
"Okay Hoss, you can stay home from school for the next couple of days" Ben finally said, letting his son of the hook. Hoss's shoulders sagged in relief and he happily began eating his breakfast again.  
  
Neither of the Cartwright's seated at the table had been aware that a certain younger member of the family had just heard Ben tell Hoss that he could stay home from school. That certain younger member was now staring intently at the family eating words, trying to find the right scathing words to say.  
  
A few minutes earlier upstairs........  
  
Joe had awoken on his own this morning. The first thing he noticed was just that. It wasn't very often that he woke on his own. Normally one of his brothers would be dragging him from his warm bed by this time.  
  
This morning however, Joe woke slowly and in his own time. Stretching his sleep limp muscles and enjoying the sun coming through the window and gently warming his face.  
  
When he felt a little more awake and alert he got up from his bed and prepared to get dressed for the day. The trousers he had had on last night were hanging over the back of a chair in his room waiting for Hop Sing to gather them later that morning for wash day. The note that Mr Watson had given Joe was still folded neatly in the envelope in the pocket of his trousers. Completely forgotten about.  
  
Joe dressed in a clean pair of trousers and a fresh shirt followed by socks and shoes before heading downstairs to the breakfast table and his family. It was when he was almost at the bottom of the staircase that he had heard his father tell his brother Hoss that he was allowed to stay home from school.  
  
"How come he gets special treatment?" Joe said in a tone of voice that sounded more harsh than he would have liked.  
  
Adam and Ben turned to face the youth, surprised to see him not only awake but dressed on his own and ready for school. His hair was still in need of a brushing before he left, but all in all Joe had done pretty well for himself they thought.  
  
Ben could hear the displeasure in his son's words about favourable treatment that didn't include him. Whilst he wasn't happy about his son's tone of voice this early in the morning, he wanted to try and defuse the situation without getting involved with a full scale argument with his son before breakfast.  
  
"Nobody is getting special treatment Joe" Adam now interjected before Ben could say anything. "We are pretty short handed with men at the moment and some of the stock need more attention than I can spare them for right now." he tried to explain.  
  
"Oh and Hoss being allowed to stay home for two days isn't special treatment huh Adam" Joe spat back at his brother. "I could help out with the animals too you know Adam" he said in his own defence.  
  
"Watch your tone of voice" Ben warned his son for the first time that day.  
  
"Hoss is only being allowed to stay home because Adam needs him. I know you think you are big enough to help out but your education is more important at the moment. Hoss is a long way further through his schooling days, yours have only just begun Joseph." Ben explained.  
  
"But I don't like school anymore than Hoss does" Joe said trying to plead with his father. He was now shuffling his feet about on the wooden floor and refusing to look at this father as he spoke.  
  
"Nevertheless you will be going Joseph, so I suggest you sit at the table and eat your breakfast before you go. Is that understood?" Ben said in a no nonsense voice.  
  
"Yes Pa" Joe replied, still looking at the floor and mumbling his answer. He complied with his father's request to sit that the table and picked up his spoon. He looked down at the bowl of oatmeal in front of him and began stirring the lumpy mixture around and around the bowl but refusing to put any of it into his mouth.  
  
Ben drew his hand down his face, trying to wipe away some of the frustration he was already beginning to feel towards his youngest's attitude. The boy had only been awake for less than an hour and it was already beginning to feel like an incredibly long day.  
  
Ben was thankful that Joe was not a wilful child. He had seen some youngsters at the Church picnic's and at the school yard that were turning out to be royal pains for their parents.  
  
Whilst Ben expected respect and discipline he didn't think that physical force was the way to achieve such goals. He would rather try and talk out problems with his sons first and let them know that they could come to him at any time with their worries and concerns.  
  
Ben however knew that Joe was at an age where he was beginning to find out what it meant to be rebellious towards anything that resembled rules and regulation. He knew that the more he pushed his son to do the right thing, the more Joe would just pull in the opposite direction, trying to prove his sense of independence at the same time.  
  
It was this sense of independence that drove children of Joe's age. They were a long way from being adults yet, but beginning to experience the real world and wanting to do it without their families more and more everyday.  
  
"Joseph, eat your breakfast please, don't play with it" Ben said sternly.  
  
Little Joe now complied with his father's request but was not entirely happy about it and so to show his displeasure in a subtle way, he made sure that the spoon barely had any oatmeal on it when he forced it into his mouth.  
  
By the time he had done this, with his father watching every attempt, the little boy had barely eaten but a few spoonfuls of the lumpy mixture anyway.  
  
Adam and Hoss had watched the entire episode as well and were waiting for the imminent explosion from their father towards their brother and his antics. To their surprise though and Joe's as well, it didn't come.  
  
Ben was secretly counting to ten inside his head, trying not to do what they all expected him to do. Instead, he slowly got up from the table and went about carrying out the rest of his tasks before heading to the timber yard that morning.  
  
Ben watched his son from the corner of his eye and from the other side of the room and thought that his alternate method had seemed to work at least momentarily. Joe was watching his father move about the room preparing to leave, wondering whether he had been let off the hook or not.  
  
Joe didn't like this game his father was playing. He would have rathered Ben just yell at him and get it over with. This delaying tactic his father was suddenly using was a little unnerving to say the least. Maybe his father was going to wait until he came home this afternoon to dish out the expected punishment. That would mean Joe would have all day at school to ponder what list of chores his father would dream up by that time.  
  
"Hoss, I still want you to take your brother to school before you do any of the caring for those animals. He is still too young to be riding to school on his own." Ben now instructed as he put on his leather vest and his hat.  
  
Joe was about to object and opened his mouth to protest about the baby treatment he was going to be getting by being lead to school like a five year old. He looked up at his father though who was now buckling on his gun belt. The words died on his lips before they were spoken. Ben's look was one of "I dare you to say anything Joseph".  
  
Ben was satisfied that his son was still trying to work out what punishment he had in store for his earlier demonstration of childishness.  
  
'How is that burn on your arm this morning Joe?" Adam now asked, genuinely making sure that it didn't need any tending to before the youngster left for school shortly.  
  
"Fine" came the curt reply with no real indication of whether it was okay or Joe was just being obstinate. Probably the latter Adam assumed knowing how difficult any kind of conversation had been between Joe and any of the family lately.  
  
"Would you like me to have a look at it for you?" Adam now asked, keeping his own temper in check.  
  
"Nope it's just fine like I told you," Joe said and quickly got up from the table before anybody could question him further about the truthfulness of his statement.  
  
Joe quickly raced up the staircase to grab the shoes he had forgotten when he came to the breakfast table.  
  
Ben, Hoss and Adam just looked at one another trying to work out whether or not they should be chasing after him and physically looking at the injury themselves to see if it needed any attention or not.  
  
Ben was trying to decide if he should be chastising Joe for the way he had spoken to his older brother when Adam had asked about his arm. At the end of the day, Ben rationalised that it would only cause more animosity at the table that morning. Whilst he was unhappy about Joe's lack of manners, he hoped that by the time he had returned from the timber yard and Joe had returned with Hoss from school that his son would be in a better frame of mind.  
  
It was right about now that Joe came running back down the staircase, this time with his shoes on and laces tied. He had his books tucked underneath the arm that wasn't injured. It looked as though he had made some sort of effort to comb his hair. The curls had a mind of their own today though and were going in all directions.  
  
"Come here Joseph please before you go" Ben now said in a gentle tone of voice as his son attempted to escape out the door with as little contact with his family as possible. He was trying to avoid them for the baby treatment he was getting that he deemed unfair.  
  
Little Joe almost rolled his eyes to his father's request as he had done with Adam but did it somewhat more discreetly knowing that his father's reaction to such cheekiness wouldn't be so restrained as his older brother's had been.  
  
Joe now stood in front of his father with his eyes downcast to the floor. "Yes Pa?" he said in the smallest possible voice, as if he were trying the innocent look that usually work for him.  
  
Adam and Hoss now both looked at each other and rolled their own eyes at the well known antics of their younger brother. They both knew that it wouldn't take too long for Joe to wrap their father around his finger.  
  
"Joseph, I want you to take care of yourself at school today" Ben began. "If your arm starts hurting too much make sure you let your teacher know. Somebody can get word to your brothers to come and bring you home if necessary. Although I don't think that will be necessary" he added, seeing his son's eyes light up with the prospect of being allowed home from school early.  
  
"Yes Pa" Joe repeated in the same tone of voice as though butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. "I'll be okay" he said, knowing that Mr Watson would be the last person in the world he would tell that he had an injured arm.  
  
"Come on Hoss or we will be late" Joe now said giving his father a quick embrace and pulling away from his father's grasp "By Pa" he said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.  
  
Ben couldn't help but grin at his son as he scampered out the front door, pulling Hoss along with him. Hoss protesting that it was too early to leave just yet and that he hadn't finished eating his own breakfast yet.  
  
No matter how subdued Joe appeared sometimes, it didn't take much of a change in circumstances to see him bounce back to his normal vibrant exuberant self. His energy was what kept his family his family on their toes all the time. And they wouldn't have it any other way.  
  
With Joe and Hoss now headed to the barn to saddle their horses and shortly thereafter the schoolhouse, Ben rose from the table, informing Adam that the day was going to be a long enough anyway. He too would be headed to the barn shortly to saddle his own horse and then head in the opposite direction to the timberyard.  
  
Adam to went on his way. With the men being so short-handed lately, he knew that he would be needed at a number of locations that day. Hopefully he would be home in time for when Little Joe returned home from school. If not, he would remind Hoss before he left to keep an eye on the time in case he didn't get back in time. One of them would need to be at the schoolhouse when school was let out that afternoon.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Joe's real reason for going to school a little earlier had nothing to do with Mr Watson. He was hoping that he would meet up with his new little friend Johnny Scott before class started.  
  
As Hoss and Joe rode along, Hoss tried to encourage his brother into some light hearted conversation to make the journey seem shorter. He tried all sorts of topics he thought might interest Joe, like the fishing hole or the animals that he was going to take care of when he returned home.  
  
Joe however seemed very distracted as they rode along the rode to Virginia City. Joe's mind was occupied with thoughts about what Mr Watson had said to him the day before about being backwards and falling behind all the other kids in the class because he used a different hand to write with.  
  
As Joe got closer to the town and could see the school-house come into view, the words Watson had said seemed to get louder and louder until they were echoing inside his head. He silently hoped that Mr Watson had forgotten all about what had happened the day before and that the last two days of school could just progress without much interaction between the two of them.  
  
As Joe rode his horse towards the stable situated behind the school yard, Johnny Scott spotted his friend and ran up to greet him as Joe dismounted from his mount and started taking the saddle off.  
  
"Hi Joe" Johnny said excitedly, in the short time they had known each other, he too had come to value the brief friendship they shared. He, like Joe hoped that the more time they were able to spend together, the stronger that friendship would become and they would soon be the best of friends.  
  
"Hi Johnny" Joe said in reply, his mood lifting a little at the sight of his friend. Hoss watched on with a smile on his own that Joe had found someone his own age with similar interests to play with. Joe hadn't mentioned too much bout his new friend except the day he had come home sodden and had explained he had been fishing with Johnny.  
  
"Um Little Joe, I'll leave you to it huh" Hoss said not wanting to intrude too much on the younger boys. With his large size sometimes Hoss felt out of place even with his own brother's classmates. Sometimes with his own classmates too. "I'll be here to pick you up this afternoon" he reminded his younger sibling.  
  
Joe's grin quickly turned to a sneer again at the mention of the babying treatment of being picked up from school like a first grader. "You don't have to you know Hoss" Joe tried to reason with his larger sibling. "I can ride home and you can be there waiting at home before Pa and Adam even know."  
  
"But I will know Little Joe and you know how much trouble both of us would get into if Pa or Adam knew that I let you ride from school all by yourself." Hoss said with a lump rising to his throat as he tried to imagine what would his father say to such an episode. "Besides, I want to make sure nothing happens to you. You might fall off your horse on the way home and get hurt. Nobody would be there to help you." Hoss's protectiveness over his smaller brother was now shining through.  
  
"I am big enough not to fall off my own horse Hoss" Joe said gruffly and turned away from his brother, dragging Johnny with him towards the school house.  
  
Hoss watched sadly as the two boys headed to school. Deep down he knew his brother was probably right about not falling off his horse. From a young age Joe had displayed very good horsemanship. Ben assumed much of it had been passed on genetically by his mother who had also been an excellent rider.  
  
Hoss was more upset that his brother was angry at him rather than what Joe was angry at him about. Like Ben earlier that morning, he hoped Joe was in a better mood when he arrived at the school house to pick him up.  
  
Hoss now returned home to take care of the animals that he had been allowed to stay home for. The various tasks of nursing, feeding, cleaning their bedding would now keep Hoss's attention for the majority of the day.  
  
Back at the school house, Joe and Johnny had been happily sitting down sharing various tales when the bell rang signalling the start of lessons. Without really meaning to Joe and Johnny found themselves at the rear of the line of children.  
  
Johnny had managed to take his seat in the classroom without any remark from Mr Watson who was towering over the youngsters at the door. Joe however was not so fortunate to avoid the scrutiny of the harsh teaching master.  
  
Watson's brows furrowed together in a frown as he watched the boy known as "Little Joe" amble into the class behind everybody else. He however did not think of it as Joe just being in line waiting his turn. He saw the gesture as a defiance of his authority and knew that the boy was out to rile him from the outset this morning.  
  
"Mr Cartwright in future I want to see you seated at your desk before the bell rings for class, is that understood?" he said, determined to chastise the boy in front of all his classmates.  
  
"Yes Mr Watson" Joe replied, inwardly groaning that the personal attack on him had begun almost before he even walked into the room.  
  
"I am keeping my eye on you boy, so you had better watch your step young man" Watson sternly said.  
  
Turning his attention away from Joe momentarily, Mr Watson now assumed the role of teacher for the morning and now stood at the front of the class.  
  
"Now I trust that you all did your homework assignments last night" he said, "Please come up to the front of the classroom in an orderly fashion and place your work on my desk. I will check it throughout the day. Any work that is found to be inadequate or messy will have to be redone." he added, smirking a little as he knew that this would indeed involve at least half of the class.  
  
Joe swallowed inwardly because now was genuinely the first time he had thought about the homework assignment since Mr Watson had given it out at the end of class yesterday afternoon.  
  
When he had gone home, he had tried to help out with the chores and then his arm had been burned in the kitchen and he had forgotten all about doing homework.  
  
Looking about the room as the children filed one by one up to the front of the classroom as instructed and placed their work on his desk, Watson could distinctly see that his "star" pupil did not move from his chair or even attempt to. Just the opposite, the child was squirming about in his seat with a worried look on his face.  
  
Watson immediately knew that he had caught the boy out about not doing his homework.  
  
"Mr Cartwright, do you have any work for me to check?" Watson said in a very casual manner. It was a tone of voice the man had solemnly used and anybody else but Joe could have sworn that the man was genuine in his question.  
  
Joe however glanced up at the man and spotted a totally different look in the man's eyes. Even for a seven year old, the boy was able to see that the man was annoyed at the child's disobedience.  
  
"Um, I am sorry Mr Watson but I hurt my arm when I went home yesterday and I went to sleep before my father came home." Joe said telling almost the whole truth. He decided that the teacher didn't need to know that he had woken up after his father came home and talked with him.  
  
Watson took in every word that the child had said and made a mental note for future reference about the injured arm. With the information given though he understood there to be another missed task assigned to Mr Cartwright: the note.  
  
"I would take it then Mr Cartwright that you failed to give your father the note I wrote to him yesterday?" Watson now asked, deliberately leaving out the subject of the note from the rest of Joe's classmates.  
  
"I'm sorry, I did take it home Sir but my father has had trouble at the timber yard lately and hasn't been getting home until long after dark. I will give it to him tonight when he gets home." Joe added hoping that the promise might get him of the hook of trouble he was already dangling from.  
  
"Mr Cartwright you and I will discuss these matters out of class hours in your recess break" Watson now said, seeing that the other students were listening in to everything that was being said.  
  
Joe didn't know what to think for a moment. The man didn't sound as if he was upset about the homework and the note at all. He was saying that he just wanted to discuss it at lunch time. Joe told himself that he could handle that if the teacher only wanted to talk. He could take any amount of yelling from Watson after what he had been getting off Adam at home lately. He couldn't help but think a few minutes ago that his punishment would be worse than that.  
  
For the rest of the time from then until the lunch hour, Watson refrained from talking to Joe unless necessary. He didn't want to alert any attention to what he had in mind for his disobedient student. Whilst the boy worked however, he noted that the boy had ignored his advice from yesterday about writing with his left hand.  
  
That coupled with the no homework and the note was enough to fuel his temper. He told himself that if the boy's father wasn't going to do anything about discipline for the child, note or no note from him, then he took it upon himself to show Joe what was right and wrong in his classroom.  
  
As the hour wore closer to 12 noon, Watson could feel his temper rising further and further. He could see from the boy's participation in class that he was a child that thrived on the group atmosphere a class room offered. The other children looked to Joe and almost came to judge their own behaviour and sense of where they were in the class according to where Little Joe Cartwright was.  
  
This was just the scenario that he had seen in a number of older boys at other schools. They became the leaders of the class and other students who could be persuaded to do well with their academic futures, went down a path of disobedience and intolerance of other students. He had been forthright about setting such disruptive troublemakers apart from the class before. Although the boy in question was only seven, he didn't see the age difference as any excuse to let the behaviour continue any further.  
  
If he made an example out of Joe Cartwright for the other youngster's to see, then the other students would see that discipline and hard work were the way for them to go.  
  
He continued to watch the boy throughout the morning, making mental notes of the times Joe was day-dreaming or lost his concentration. There was a few occasions that the boy stopped working and rubbed at his right arm just below the shoulder area. He had not believed the kid at all earlier in the morning when he used an injury as an excuse for failing to do his homework. He could see now that maybe the boy had a injury at least.  
  
The thing that provoked the teacher's temper the most though was Joe's continual use of his left hand when he had explicitly explained how much it would cause him to fall behind the rest of the class. He thought he had explained it enough and made it clear that he didn't want him using his left hand at all. Even if the note had never made it to his father like intended, the boy at least had heard the arguments for such a change and should have complied as such.  
  
At one point his temper had boiled over as he watched the boy's writing style. He had been holding onto a pencil to mark the previous day's homework. The pencil had suddenly snapped without warning, making a few of the students in the room jump at the sharp sound.  
  
Joe had briefly looked up but put his head back down knowing that he would be in trouble yet again if he didn't at least look as though he was doing his work. He only had to make it through the rest of today and tomorrow and then the school holidays would be here and he would be free of Mr Watson forever.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Little Joe tried to do what was asked of him for most of the morning and so did not notice too many of the dark looks directed at him from the teacher.  
  
Soon the bell was ringing, signalling that it was time for recess. Normally the children would have already scattered by now, but with Mr Watson as their teacher, they all waited for his signal to file outside in an orderly fashion to play.  
  
"Children you may all go outside" Mr Watson informed them, "Except Mr Cartwright of course" he added, deliberately reminding Little Joe about that little talk they were supposed to be having.  
  
Joe sighed at the thought of the talk. He hoped it wouldn't go for too long because he was genuinely hungry today. He had very little dinner the night before and equally as little breakfast before he left that morning. Hop Sing would be surprised to see that the boy had eaten most of what he had packed for once.  
  
Joe was now the only student seated at his desk. Watson's false smile quickly faded as he walked behind Joe and closed the front doors to the classroom. He saw the look of surprise on the boy's face and increased Joe's apprehensiveness by going towards the back of the classroom and making sure that the back door was also closed. He wanted to make sure that there was no unwelcome visitors when he and his little friend had their "little talk".  
  
"Don't want to be disturbed now do we?" Watson said casually to Joe answering the boy's unasked question about why he was closing the doors. The tone of voice was a little too casual for Joe's liking. He began moving about in his seat again, displaying his nervousness.  
  
"From the attitude you displayed today Mr Cartwright, I take it that you like ignoring my advice and disobeying my instructions. In fact I see you take an active part in doing the complete opposite to what I ask of you and the rest of my students." Watson started to say. By this time he was standing beside Joe's desk, looming over the boy in an ominous stance.  
  
"But I haven't done anything wrong" Joe began to say in his own defence. True he hadn't done the homework assignment, but he thought he had explained that enough. He was trying to think back over the rest of the morning to see where he had disobeyed any of the teacher's instructions. He thought he had actually done better than he ever did in one of Miss Abigail's classes.  
  
"Haven't done anything wrong." Watson said calmly. "HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING WRONG......." he now said angrily and grasped Joe's right arm right were the bandage covered his burn mark.  
  
"Oww your hurting me Mr Watson" Joe cried out, cringing a little at the man's sudden explosion of anger. He now was fully aware of why the teacher had closed the doors. He was now becoming afraid of the teacher.  
  
"I haven't even begun to hurt you yet Mr Cartwright" Watson replied and deliberately made his grip over the injury even tighter. Joe cried out in pain once again at the pressure being applied.  
  
"Come with me boy" Watson asked through gritted teeth, not waiting for the boy to stand but literally dragging him out of his small seat and pulling him across the room towards the back door.  
  
Virginia City school was made up of two rooms, one larger enough for the class room and smaller area out the back were Miss Jones often prepared the work for her classes. In addition to these two rooms, there was a small storage room, not much bigger than a broom closet. It was here that the stationary supplies and other books were kept when they weren't being used. Because of it's size, the room was very dark and often held a musty smell to it after rain due to the lack of air circulation.  
  
"No you can't put me in there" Joe said as he tried pulling himself away from the teacher. He was using his other hand to try and pry the teacher's hand from his arm. If he could just get free he could try and make it to the door and get out before the teacher caught up with him again.  
  
The fact that the room was so dark was the thing that scared Joe the most. It was no secret in his family that the youngest had a phobia about being in the dark.  
  
"You will wait in there until the end of school where we will continue this little necessary discussion." Watson told him. Joe knew that the teacher had no intentions of talking about anything.  
  
Joe was still trying to pull away. Watson now jerked the door open by the handle and with a hard thrust, shoved the boy through the door. The force made Joe unsteady on his feet, unable to stop for a brief moment and the boy found himself falling over a fallen book on the floor and cracking the back of his head against a shelf.  
  
The blow to the back of his head was enough to make him fall to the floor stunned. Because of the dizziness that he was experiencing, he made no attempt to get back to his feet and get out the door. Watson too his opportunity to close and lock the door, imprisoning his young student inside the small, poorly aerated room. He made sure that the boy heard his laughter about his misery.  
  
Joe now pulled himself to his feet, although a little unsteady, and began banging on the other side of the storeroom door and shouting for someone to let him out. He could only hope that somebody outside might hear his cries for help.  
  
"LET ME OUT..... YOU CAN'T LOCK ME IN HERE ..." Joe shouted at the top of his voice. He was almost on the verge of tears from fear of the room as well as what the teacher had in store for him later on. He had to get out he told himself. "LET ME OOOOUUUUUTTT" he screamed again.  
  
This time his efforts did cause the door to be opened, but it was not anybody to help him. Watson now stood in front of him in the doorway.  
  
The teacher grabbed the front of the boy's shirt and lifted him off the ground slightly as he uttered his warning:  
  
"You had better be quiet boy if you know what's good for you" Watson snarled. Although he taken the precautions of closing the door, he wasn't prepared to take the risk of how far the boy's shouting would carry. Maybe somebody outside would hear him and come to help. Maybe one of his classmates might hear him and go get another adult. He didn't want anything disrupting his plans for later that afternoon. He would have to make sure that the boy remained quiet inside his prison for the remainder of the afternoon until the other children had gone home.  
  
"You can't keep me in here" Joe said, the tears now running down his face, unable to stop them.  
  
"Oh but I can" Watson answered and roughly shoved the boy back inside the room locking it again to prevent the boy's escape. "I will keep you and your disruptive behaviour away from the rest of your classmates." the teacher added, trying to justify his harsh methods to himself.  
  
Joe fell heavily on his backside on the storeroom floor. The room was now almost completely devoid of light. Joe could hear the sounds of his own crying in the silence. With nobody to help him he didn't know what the afternoon had in store for him that afternoon. That almost scared him as much as the darkness of the room.  
  
Joe now moved up against on of the walls of the storeroom and grabbed his knees up towards his chest and laid his head on top of his knees as he cried softly to himself and wondered when his family were going to come and get him.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED......  
  
Author - What lies in store for our young Joe ?????????????? Only this crazy author has the answer to that so you will have to read the next part to find out.  
  
Sorry not longer but have to work on other ones too.  
  
Hope you are liking it so far.  
  
JULES 


	5. CHAPTER 5

DEAD MAN'S CANYON  
There was almost half and hour of time to pass between when Watson locked Little Joe in the small cramped storeroom until the other children returned from recess break.  
  
At first, Joe sat against the wall with his legs tucked up wondering what he was going to do about getting out of there. When he had first been thrown into the room he had begun shouting to try and alert somebody else's attention.  
  
His efforts to free himself however only resulted in threats of what would happen if he continued from Watson as he loomed over the much smaller boy.  
  
Joe had not eaten much dinner the night before at home nor this morning as he got dressed ready to leave for school. The lunch Hop Sing had packed for him was still sitting in his satchel unopened with no way for him to retrieve it. He had not had so much as a drink of water since leaving home.  
  
His stomach was beginning to protest loudly from the lack of food and water but Joe paid his body no attention as his curly head silently and slowly drifted downwards. His arms were leaning over his knees and made enough of a crudely soft pillow. He didn't feel himself falling asleep.  
  
Watson had been showing a little uneasiness when he hadn't heard any noise coming from the boy for quite a few minutes. He placed his ear up against the door before the class filed back into the room. Giving into his curiosity he opened the door slightly and peered into the darkness.  
  
He smiled to himself though as he saw that the boy had only fallen asleep. He was happy enough to assume that the boy would remain so for the remaining class time left. His classmates would not even know he was there unless he woke up unexpectedly.  
  
Watson started putting his thoughts together as he closed the door again and relocked it. He had to come up with a plausible excuse for the missing Joe Cartwright for the rest of his classmates so they wouldn't become overly suspicious and start asking the wrong sort of questions.  
  
As the children did come into the classroom from their lunch, Watson was careful to watch all of their facial expressions to see if they noted anything different. When he looked at the face of Johnny Scott he could see the youngster looking about the room trying to locate somebody. He had seen the boy talking to Joe Cartwright for the last two days.  
  
Johnny decided to pluck up enough courage and ask about his missing friend. He hadn't seen Joe during the entire lunch break. He was also worried that he hadn't seen Joe eating his lunch anywhere.  
  
"Excuse me Mr Watson," came the small voice from Johnny.  
  
Watson waited a few minutes as though he hadn't heard the question. It was only after the boy was forced to reiterate his question that Watson gave him any sort of response.  
  
"Yes Mr Scott," Watson said walking over to Johnny's seat and towering over the boy in a looming stance so as to baulk the boy into asking only what was absolutely necessary. "Well come on boy, speak up, your wasting valuable class lesson time."  
  
"Mr Watson, I was only going to ask about my friend Little Joe." Johnny said and swallowed hard as he looked up into the uncaring face of his tutor. "I didn't see him at lunch and I was just wondering was he alright." he added, voicing his concerns. Joe still hadn't made an appearance in the classroom yet.  
  
Watson forced his face to relax slightly so as to give the impression of a caring reply "Mr Cartwright said he didn't feel well. He came to me just as you all began eating your lunch. I thought it better that he seek attention from his family. He has gone home, " not wanting to add too much unnecessary information that may make the boy ask more questions.  
  
"You mean he's sick?" Johnny answered, repeating what the teacher had just told him. He wondered if he should stop to see Joe on his way home to make sure he was alright. "But his horse was still in the stable."  
  
"Mr Cartwright went to see the town doctor first. I assume the doctor took him home in his buggy. One of his family will come for the horse later on this afternoon or tomorrow." Watson said, fumbling his way through the answer at first. He really didn't have much knowledge about the doctor at all. He didn't even know if the man had a buggy for that matter. He was just hoping the naïve boy would believe what he was told.  
  
Watson inwardly kicked himself for forgetting about the horse. Only immature boys would remember something as unimportant as a horse. Unfortunately Joe Cartwright's horse had rather unusual markings and colouring that made it difficult to forget.  
  
"Now Mr Cartwright will not be with us for the rest of the afternoon to finish his lessons but you Mr Scott are, as are the rest of the class. Open your books children to the first page." Watson now said, walking away from the students towards the front of the classroom again.  
  
For the rest of the afternoon, Johnny Scott did his lessons in silence as he was asked. His mind couldn't help but wonder about his friend though. Joe hadn't whispered anything in class to him about feeling sick. Joe had been a little bit cranky lately about how his family was treating him and knew he was going to be in trouble about falling into the water when he went fishing without permission. But there had been no mention today or the day before about him not feeling well.  
  
Johnny promised himself that he would take Joe's horse home that afternoon if his family hadn't come it get it. Joe had told Johnny right from the beginning about how fond he was of his horse Blackie. Johnny knew Joe wouldn't deliberately want the horse to be left at the school stable overnight. His family might get too busy to come and bring it home.  
  
Back at the Ponderosa, Hoss had been tending to the animals for most of the day. He had feed them and tendered to their every need. Animals was just something that he understood better than people.  
  
Animals might be a little demanding sometimes, especially when they were young or injured. But mostly, as long as they had something to eat, clean fresh water to drink and somewhere dry and warm to sleep, animals didn't bother you at all.  
  
People on the other hand never stopped bothering you Hoss told himself. If it wasn't his teacher at school pushing him to do better in his studies, it was the kids in the schoolyard making fun of him because of his size. Or his young brother demanding that he play with him after school even though Hoss had chores that his father and older brother expected to be done.  
  
Adam had been further out in the pastures for most of the morning. He had met his father at the Timberyard just after lunch to try and see how they were doing.  
  
Ben grimly told his eldest son that things weren't going very well at all and that he didn't expect to be back at the house until well after dark. He apologized to Adam for unloading the responsibilities of his two youngest sons on him again. Ben promised he would try and spend a little time with them all tonight if it wasn't too late.  
  
Adam had assured his father that he understood that there were major problems at the Timberyard at the moment. He promised his father that he would soon return home before Joe got home from school to see that his two younger brothers did their evening chores and had supper.  
  
Adam had stayed a little longer then he would have liked though at the Timberyard and as he glanced down at the time as he rode away, he knew he wouldn't make it back to the ranch until well after school was let out. He just hoped that his larger younger brother didn't get too tied up in his animal care to remember to collect Joe.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
For Watson the afternoon began dragging about half an hour before the end of class. He found himself constantly looking back and forth at the clock on the wall, nervously wondering if the boy was awake yet and hoping that he didn't start yelling out again from the storeroom.  
  
When the clock struck 3.00 p.m. all of the children remained seated at their desks. They had learned yesterday not to rile the teacher and so waited patiently for him to dismiss the class.  
  
"Children you may go home for the afternoon. There will be no homework this afternoon" Watson said, trying to hurry the children out of the classroom before the Cartwright boy starting making any noise from the back room.  
  
The children filed out of the classroom and headed out the gate. Some of them, who had further to go walked towards the horse stable to ready their mounts for the ride home. Watson watched each and everyone of them from the front of the school-house to make sure that children were actually leaving.  
  
Johnny Scott had saddled his own mount and then looked over Joe's horse Blackie and reminded himself that he was going to take the horse back for his friend. He then went about saddling Blackie although there wouldn't be a rider this afternoon.  
  
He led both horses out to the front of the school ready to mount and then quickly realised that he had forgotten his lunch satchel from inside the classroom.  
  
He hitched both animals up to the fence outside temporarily. Just long enough to get his bag and get started home. With the extra distance he had to divert to the Ponderosa, he would be late if he dawdled too much.  
  
It was only as he neared the stairs that he could now hear voices coming from inside the classroom. He figured this to be rather strange at first because he thought the teacher was all alone. Maybe one of the parents had come to talk to him after school he thought logically.  
  
Johnny didn't want to intrude on the conversation in case it was adults talking and so waited near the bottom of the stairs. It was after he heard a few more words of the conversation that he shrunk back towards the outer wall of the school-room, fearing he would be discovered.  
  
a few minutes ago while Johnny was at the stable:  
  
With the classroom now empty, Watson was careful to make sure that the back door to the school house was securely locked. He didn't want his star pupil managing to escape once he allowed him out of the storeroom.  
  
His attention was drawn to this boy that seemed to get under his very skin for some reason. He failed to note that the front door to the classroom was still open and that there would be an audience listening outside to everything that was going on.  
  
He opened the storeroom door and was pleasantly surprised to see two small green eyes looking back at him. The boy was indeed awake. His face was smudged from the dirt from the floor of the room when he had wiped his tears away. There was a look of fear in the boy's expression and that's just how he wanted it to be.  
  
"What do you want with me?" Joe asked in a small voice, hoping to use his size as a deterrent for the teacher, hoping that Mr Watson only wanted to talk as he had said before locking him in the room. However, even at the age of 7, Joe was astute enough to realise that the teacher hadn't locked him away from the rest of the class to merely "talk" after everybody had gone home.  
  
"You chose to defy me Mr Cartwright and I cannot allow that disrespect to happen in my classroom. I need to punish you in a way that will afford you to do as you are told in future." Watson now said.  
  
"Can I have a drink of water please?" Joe now said, his throat was really dry from all that time without any liquid.  
  
"You may get a drink from the jug over there" Watson said as he pointed to a small table outside the storeroom where a jug of water and glass were stored during the day. He needed a reason to get the kid to come out of the room on his own anyway, rather than drag him out kicking and screaming.  
  
Joe slowly got to his feet and shuffled his way past the teacher, worried that the man would change his mind in an instant and relock him in the musty smelling room.  
  
As he took the glass drinking his fill, Joe carefully looked about the classroom, trying not to draw the attention of the teacher. He was looking for any sign of someone left behind in the school house he could signal for help. He prayed desperately that his brothers Hoss or Adam were about to walk in the room and take him home before the teacher got a chance to deal out his "punishment."  
  
back at the Ponderosa:  
  
Adam rode into the yard knowing that his day of work was not yet complete. He still had to make sure that this two younger brothers did their chores in time for supper and then he had to try and spend some time on the account books.  
  
With his father delayed until well after dark for the last couple of days and Adam trying to at least make up the numbers to help out the hands doing the more physically demanding jobs, the books were not getting very much attention at all at the moment.  
  
As Adam stopped his horse near the barn and got off the saddle, he put his hand to his head, knowing that another problem had just arisen. From where he was standing, he could already see that Hoss was still tending to the animals, almost in the same position when he had ridden away this morning. Obviously Hoss hadn't left yet to pick up his younger brother from school.  
  
"Hoss you didn't leave to get Little Joe yet, school would have already been let out ten minutes ago" Adam said.  
  
"Oh no" Hoss declared, "Adam, I am sorry, I didn't mean to forget Joe. Time just sorta got away from me. I just finished feedings those babies a little while ago and I just turned around to change their bedding straw and they are complaining that they are hungry again."  
  
"I know of somebody else who is going to be complaining too when you get there" Adam said with a slight grin on his face. He could already imagine what hot tempered little words would come from the seven year old when his big brother showed up over 45 minutes late.  
  
Adam was worried that boredom would get the better of the energetic youngster and he might just decide to come home on his own. Or even worse find something else to fill in the time, like heading off to a fishing hole on the way home without telling anybody where he was going.  
  
"I am going right now Adam" Hoss said, already half way through saddling his mount. "I will try and be as quick as I can to get there."  
  
"Don't try and go too fast along that road Hoss" Adam warned. "Don't do anything foolish like your younger brother and ride along there like the wind was after your tail. Lord knows Pa has enough to worry about without having you or him or both of you hurt to add to it."  
  
"I'll be careful" Hoss reassured his brother.  
  
"I am going inside to get cleaned up and then tackle some of the book work at Pa's desk" Adam told his brother.  
  
Hoss nodded his head but was glad that all the responsibilities of running the ranch had been left to somebody like Adam when his father was forced to be away. He didn't know how Adam remembered to do everything that needed attending.  
  
No wonder Joe tested Adam's patience sometimes at the end of the day. Adam must be completely worn out by supper time Hoss surmised as he started along the way to Virginia City and the school house to pick up his younger brother. He prayed that Joe would be in a better mood than he had been in this morning when they got to the school.  
  
back at the school house:  
  
"Looks like your family doesn't want to come and get you" Watson teased his reluctant student. He knocked what remained of the water and cup out of Joe's hand. The cup hit the floor spilling its contents and breaking into three or four pieces.  
  
"They will be coming" Joe said with as much courage as he dared. He didn't  
  
want to rile the teacher too much for he knew that it would only result in him bearing the brunt of his anger. Secretly again he prayed that his family would soon come for him.  
  
"Get over to my desk you little imp" Watson now said shoving Little Joe roughly out of the back of the school house towards the classroom.  
  
Johnny Scott swallowed uneasily as he heard the teacher's harsh words towards his friend. He didn't know if he should identify himself or divulge his hiding place to Watson. At the shout of Joe to get over to his desk, Johnny became too afraid to even let the sound of his breathing be heard.  
  
Joe fell against the desk awkwardly, needing his hands to steady himself and prevent himself from falling to the floor altogether. During the time it took to regain his balance, he could see Watson reach into a small travelling bag from behind his desk. He was now pulling something long and thin out with his right hand.  
  
Joe could feel the fear in him starting to gain momentum as he tried to see what the teacher was holding. It soon came into view and he wished he couldn't see it again.... it was a long thin wooden ruler about 16 inches in length.  
  
"I hate having to teach some harsh lessons to my students Mr Cartwright" Watson now said from behind the desk, making sure that his pupil could see the instrument in his hand the whole time.  
  
"But your behaviour over the last couple of days is disturbing to me and I believe I have no other choice than to punish you in a way that you won't soon forget." Watson stated, knowing there really wasn't an ounce of truth in what he was saying.  
  
Truth was, Little Joe Cartwright was just one of those kids who got under his skin from the very beginning and he didn't know quite why.  
  
"But I haven't really done anything wrong Mr Watson" Joe said in his own defence. "I did what you asked in class most of this morning." he added, trying to at least reason with the bullying teacher.  
  
"Did you do your homework yesterday Mr Cartwright?" Watson now shouted at the youngster.  
  
"But...." Joe started to say before he was savagely cut off.  
  
"Yes or no Mr Cartwright, it is a simple question. Did you or did you not do the homework assignment given to you yesterday afternoon?" Watson shouted, daring the boy to lie to him.  
  
Joe shook his head in a negative response but didn't say anything further. It was obvious the teacher wasn't going to believe anything he had to say anyway.  
  
"Did you give your father the note I instructed you to give him about your improper writing technique?" Watson now asking a second question.  
  
"No but he wasn't home until.........." Joe said before he was cut off rudely again.  
  
"An excuse Mr Cartwright. An excuse that doesn't hold water in my eyes. Yes your father probably didn't get the note, but it is probably more the case that you chose not to give it to him isn't it?"  
  
"NO" Joe shouted back hotly, forgetting about the ruler for a second, his temper quickly rising at the insinuation that he had deliberately lied to his father.  
  
"WHAT" Watson yelled back, his face now bright red and the tendons in his neck taunt.  
  
"Your lack of respect boy has earned you a more physical form of punishment" Watson now said, moving out from behind the desk and behind Joe. Joe tried to turn around to face the teacher, his fear still rising within him.  
  
Without so much as a warning of what he was about to do, Watson brought the ruler back in his hand slightly and before Joe had time to react he felt a stinging sensation to the back of his thighs.  
  
"Yeoww" Joe said out loud, unable to hold back his cry of pain. His hands went immediately to the area. His had on trousers, but the blow from the ruler had been hard enough to still allow him to feel it.  
  
"Keep quiet you little brat" Watson said to him, looking nervously around the room in case the boy's cry of pain was heard by somebody passing by in the street.  
  
It was only as he looked about the classroom towards the front door that he could make out the outline of another small figure hiding by the stairs outside. A brief glimpse of hair allowed him to identify the person as Little Joe's friend and classmate Johnny Scott.  
  
While Watson was a little afraid now that more than one boy knew what had been going on, he was equally sure of his abilities to silence the two boys through fear. He was determined to leave a lasting impression on Joe Cartwright that would ensure he didn't say anything to his family and Johnny Scott would be warned what could happen to him if he breathed a word to anybody.  
  
Joe was about to say something to avoid another assault from the teacher's ruler when he felt a second sting to the back of his leg. This one felt even harder than the last. The pain took his breath away momentarily and all he could do was look at the teacher with a surprised look on his face.  
  
"And I assure you more of the same Mr Cartwright if you or anybody else breathes a word of what has happened here today to anybody, understand?" Watson demanded, making sure he put the right amount of emphasis on the words "anybody else."  
  
Johnny Scott had indeed heard the teacher's warning and knew that Mr Watson knew he was there. He slowly crept out from behind the stairs and walked as calmly as he could towards the front fence and his waiting horse.  
  
For a few minutes he didn't know what he should do. Should he stay and help his friend Little Joe. Should he run and tell Sheriff Roy Coffee what he had seen or Joe's family?  
  
Back inside the classroom, Watson had put away the ruler, knowing that he was taking unnecessary risks by prolonging the punishment any longer. The boy's family had been delayed, much to his advantage, but he was under no misgivings that somebody would soon arrive. He had seen a dark haired man pick up the boy yesterday afternoon promptly enough.  
  
"Remember what I said boy" Watson hissed in Little Joe's ear as he went back behind the desk to hide his crime. "And I promise you more of the same tomorrow afternoon as well if you show the same level of disrespect and disobedience that you have displayed in class over the last two days."  
  
"You will write with your proper hand in class and I expect to see a marked improvement in the quality of work produced from you Mr Cartwright. Your father may not be interested in your education but I see it as my duty to teach you right from wrong." Watson added.  
  
By now Joe's voice was totally gone. He stood with tears streaming down his face, both from the physical pain he felt from the ruler and the captivity he had been forced to endure. But also from the frustration and humiliation he had endured at the hands of such a bitter and angry man.  
  
"You may leave Mr Cartwright" the teacher finally said as he gathered his bag and headed towards the back of the school house.  
  
Joe stood there for a few minutes, unsure of what to do. At first he thought it might be a joke and that the teacher was just waiting for him to move again and inflict more marks on his body.  
  
Then the confusion started to set in about what to do about all that had happened today. His head of course told him to tell his father immediately when he got home. But it was the fear of another day of school yet to come and what could happen if he did decide to tell someone and the teacher found out about it.  
  
He decided to think more about what to do on the way home and later that night. His father would know what to do about Mr Watson. Little Joe started to gather his books together in his satchel. The brown paper parcel with his lunch in it from Hop Sing was still wrapped up neatly and tidily as it had been when he arrived at school this morning.  
  
Outside the school house, Johnny Scott was still wrapped up in his own thoughts about what to do. His hands were still trembling a little as he near his mount and tried to gather the reins. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice call his name from behind.  
  
"Johnny" Hoss greeted the boy he had known to become his brother's friend and in some cases, partner in crime. He looked a little worried though when he saw the boy's unusual reaction. He hadn't meant to scare the youngster, when Johnny turned to face the voice, Hoss noted a slight paleness to the boy's features as well.  
  
"Um Joe's inside Hoss" Johnny said and hurriedly mounted. He reminded himself to release Blackie's reins and took off before Hoss got a chance to apologize for startling him.  
  
"Sorry but I have to go, my mom will be waiting for me" Johnny said, coming up with a lame excuse for his departure.  
  
"See you then," Hoss said, scratching his head a little at the boy's evasiveness. Johnny hadn't shown any such inkling on the other times he had seen him. Exactly the opposite actually. The boy normally displayed the same amount of exuberance and energy as his brother Joe did.  
  
Hoss now climbed the three steps that led to the classroom. He stood at the doorway momentarily, allowing his eyes to adjust from the brightness of outside to the darkness that seemed that seemed to fill the classroom.  
  
"Hey Joe are you in here boy?" Hoss said, not being able to make out his brother's shape at first due to the poor light.  
  
Joe had been so lost within his own thoughts that he almost jumped off the chair he was sitting on when he heard Hoss shout his name. He quickly got up, grimacing slightly at the immediate pain to his thighs that resulted. He quickly wiped his shirt sleeve across his face to hide any tears that may have been visible to someone else.  
  
"I'm over here Hoss" Joe replied in a very small voice. He fought very hard against the tide of emotions within him to fall into his bigger brother's embrace right here and now and force himself to tell his horrid tale.  
  
"You alright punkin'?" Hoss asked, noting the somewhat subduedness of his younger sibling. "Sorry I am so late." he added, thinking that the boy's lack of enthusiasm might be in reply for him being late and the boy being forced to wait quite a spell on his own in the school house. Joe was a boy who didn't really relish waiting for anything under normal circumstances.  
  
"Your late" Joe shot back in reply, suddenly remembering how late Hoss had been in coming. Whilst he knew Hoss wasn't late deliberately, he couldn't help but think of how none of the punishment he had received may have happened at all if one of his family had been there to protect and defend him.  
  
"I am sorry Little Joe, I got a bit held up looking after all those little critters," Hoss said apologetically as he shuffled his feet on the floor knowing that his brother was completely correct in his statement.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it now anyway" Joe said brushing away the subject as quickly as it had been brought up. He know walked across the room and passed his brother to outside.  
  
Joe had let out a quiet wince or two at the pain he still felt at the back of his legs as he walked. He was careful not to make too much noise as to alert his brother to the fact that he was hurt in any way. However he was unaware that he was walking in a manner that drew attention to his gait.  
  
Joe was a little surprised to see his mount Blackie happily standing quietly at the front fence of the school house instead of the school stable yard. But right at this minute in time he was equally uninterested about how he came to be already saddled and waiting for him.  
  
Hoss found himself looking at the back of Little Joe as he walked. He thought he spotted the youngster walking a little awkwardly on the stairs a few seconds ago as he passed. But looking now with a better view, he could definitely see the boy walking differently than usually.  
  
"You alright Joe?" Hoss asked plainly, trying not to suggest about the walking action. He would see how the ride home was and wait until they got home to see if there was still a problem.  
  
"Fine" Joe said in a low almost tight lipped response. No other hint of an explanation even looked like being given.  
  
From the look of the sullen facial expression of Joe, it was clear to the bigger boy that he was going to get the silent treatment all the way home. He shrugged his shoulders and walked to the gate and his own horse, knowing that the boy's mood would only get worse if he tried to pry what was bugging Joe any further.  
  
"Let's go home Joe" Hoss said in a cheery voice, trying to lighten the boy's mood.  
  
Hoss had ridden in front of his brother as they turned towards the road that would lead them back to the Ponderosa. He failed to see the winces of pain uttered through the boy's lips or the screwed up face as the saddle rubbed against the marks left on his legs from the ruler.  
  
On the way home, Joe did exactly like he wanted to and tried to figure out the best way to tackle his problem when he finally reached the ranch. He was still in two different minds about the whole thing and fear in the form of retribution from Mr Watson was still clear in his mind if the teacher was to find out he told somebody.  
  
When they reached the Ponderosa, Hoss offered to stable Joe's horse and rub him down as a sort of peace offering to fill in for being late to pick him up from school.  
  
"I think Adam's inside Joe" Hoss informed him still trying to drum up casual conversation to get the two of them talking again this afternoon.  
  
"Pa's not home yet?" Joe asked, unable to hide his disappointment. Pa was the one person he hoped was home this afternoon. With two voices in his head at the moment about what to do, he hoped his father could sort out which voice to listen to.  
  
"Adam says he is not going to be home until after supper again Joe, sorry" Hoss said, feeling a little sorry for the forlorn expression on his brother's face. It was no secret of Joe's affection for his father and the need to have the man's love shed over him on daily basis.  
  
"Hop Sing probably has some of those sugar cookies you like inside for afternoon tea" Hoss now said, hoping to change the subject and take Joe's mind of his father's absence.  
  
Joe turned to walk inside but he didn't voice to his brother that he didn't feel much like eating anything at the moment. He entered through the front door, avoiding Hop Sing's kitchen all together and the prospect of telling the little Cantonese man that his packed lunch was still untouched.  
  
Joe didn't announce his presence, but instead quietly opened the door just in time to hear the voice of his older brother. Apparently he was not entirely happy about something.  
  
"Darn it all" Adam said only to look up and see his younger brother looking back at him.  
  
Joe had even contemplated on the way home of telling Adam about what had been happening at school with Mr Watson. Upon hearing his brother's angry outburst though coming through the door, his unspoken words quickly fell away without being heard.  
  
"Um hi Joe" Adam said sheepishly, a little embarrassed at being caught out by his youngest brother. He was the one always telling Joe to learn patience.  
  
"How was school today?" Adam asked, this being the usual question the boy was asked upon his return every day.  
  
"Okay I guess" Joe mumbled under his breath, barely loud enough for Adam to hear.  
  
"Well if you want something to eat you will have to go and annoy Hop Sing because I am totally snowed under here I am afraid little buddy." Adam said.  
  
"I am afraid this ranch has many more problems than I can handle at the moment and I hate even the thought of another one coming up anytime soon." Adam said, forgetting that he was talking to a seven year old who was not likely to have much impact on the ranch's problems for a few more years yet anyway.  
  
Upon hearing this statement, however innocent in meaning, Joe knew that Adam was too busy to hear of any problems he may be having at school with a teacher.  
  
He started walking up the stairs and turned around almost ready to tell Adam about the beating he had received. "Adam what do you do when you know someone has done something very bad?" he asked.  
  
Adam's concentration though had been totally immersed in the account books in front of him. His brain triggered that someone was speaking to him and as he looked up he could see a questioning look on his brother's face.  
  
"What was that Joe?" Adam said thinking that Joe was asking him something of a trivial nature. His eyes were already cast back down towards the desk he was leaning over.  
  
"Not important right now" Joe said, turning his head away before Adam could see any sign of the tear running down his face.  
  
Joe closed his bedroom door and climbed on his bed only to lie face down in his pillow and let all of his emotions and frustrations out at once.  
  
.............  
  
TO BE CONTINUED - Don't worry folks, Adam and the rest of the family will get to know what's going on very shortly, I promise. Something else to happen before that though (yeah I know - ain't I a stinker).  
  
JULES 


	6. CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER SEVEN  
About an hour after he went into his room, Hoss walked into his brother's room and went towards the bed to wake him for supper time.  
  
Hoss paused a minute though as he gazed down at Joe's peacefully sleeping face. From the angle where he was standing it looked to him as if the boy had tear stain tracks running down his face. As though he had been crying before he went to sleep.  
  
Hoss frowned a little and moved his head a little, making sure it wasn't the reflection of the sun shining through the glass window playing tricks on his eyes. He finally decided that he couldn't be sure but deep down, from expressions that he had seen on his younger brother's face over the last two days, he was sure that Joe was keeping something from his family.  
  
"Joe," Hoss said in a quiet voice, so as not to startle his brother awake. He waited a few seconds to see if there was a response. There wasn't so he repeated the process.  
  
This time, his brother mumbled a few incoherent words and attempted to roll away from the voice that was talking to him.  
  
"Come on Joe wake up" Hoss said a third time. This time he was rewarded with the boy at least opening his eyes and trying to work out why he was being disturbed.  
  
Joe looked a little confused around the room and looked a little embarrassed as he noticed the shadows on the walls of his room. He now knew that he must have fallen asleep after coming into his bedroom.  
  
"Sorry Hoss, I didn't mean to fall asleep," Joe said sheepishly. He know pulled himself up into a sitting position and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. It was now with the sudden movement that the pain from the back of his thighs was brought to life again.  
  
Joe winced slightly, loud enough for his older brother to hear and then inwardly kicked himself for letting on. He hoped he could cover his tracks enough  
  
"You alright short shanks?" Hoss said as he heard his brother gasp in what sounded like pain. He looked intently at Joe's face as he asked the question, waiting to see if there was any deception that couldn't be heard when the boy spoke.  
  
"Fine Hoss," Joe said innocently, "Just got up too quick that's all and got a cramp in my leg" he lied.  
  
Joe now got off the bed altogether and stood in front of Hoss to prove that there was nothing wrong with him. He battled hard to keep his face rigid as his legs threatened to betray him. The pain was now a dull ache that seemed determined to hang around for a while.  
  
"Adam sent me up to tell you that supper will be ready soon," Hoss now said, relaxing his guard a little when Joe seemed to be okay.  
  
"I'll just wash my face and hands then Hoss and be down in a minute," Joe replied with a winning grin.  
  
"Sure," Hoss said and left the room.  
  
Joe sighed a little as he watched Hoss leave, knowing he had at least a few minutes to gather himself together before facing his brothers downstairs at the table.  
  
Joe's attention was now drawn to the fact that his jacket from the day before was still hanging over the chair near his bed. As he remembered the events of the day and what the teacher had shouted at him, he was reminded that Mr Watson's note was still tucked neatly away in the pocket.  
  
Joe made a mental note to himself to read the note later that night after his brother's had gone to bed, before his father had a chance to look at it. He wanted to make sure that the words written about him weren't too harsh and wouldn't cause him to get into too much trouble with his father.  
  
As Joe now walked out of his own bedroom, his thighs still hurt at the walking action. The stairs seemed to make the muscles hurt even more as he descended them.  
  
"Thought you must have gotten lost up there," Hoss joked at this brother as he saw Joe come down the stairs and approach his chair at the table.  
  
Hop Sing was busy bringing out the various platers of meat and vegetables. The aromas invaded his senses, letting him know just how many meals he had missed over the last day or so and how hungry he really was.  
  
Joe pulled out the hard wooden chair and looked down at the seat before sitting down. He inwardly gulped a little as he thought about how his thighs might ache even more without a little padding to ease the injured area.  
  
Joe sat down very carefully and now concentrated on putting some food onto his plate.  
  
For the next few minutes, all three brothers concerned themselves with the task of eating. Adam and Hoss were a little surprised at the level of silence at the table tonight.  
  
On any other given night, Joe would be chatting idly, telling them all about the big adventures he had planned with his friend for the school holidays when they arrived the day after tomorrow.  
  
Tonight proved to be the absolute opposite, with the boy not offering any topic for conversation at all.  
  
The hard seat began to cause the pain in Joe's legs to be more noticeable. Unintentionally he began to squirm around in the seat to alleviate the aching. Trying to find a comfortable position was proving very difficult.  
  
Adam watched his brother with raised eyebrows for a few minutes and questioning glances at Hoss as he noticed the squirming action of his brother. Joe's eating was being disturbed continually because it seemed that the boy couldn't sit still in the chair.  
  
The boy would take a mouthful of food and then move, only to take another bite of food and move back again to another position. Adam couldn't work out why the boy was moving around in the chair so much. He was beginning to become frustrated and wished Joe would tell him what was wrong.  
  
Adam refrained from voicing his concerns though because Joe was actually eating and he knew that if an argument ensued over his moving about, then the boy would end up pouting and refusing to eat anything.  
  
Finally after twenty minutes or so, the constant moving about even seemed to be annoying Joe himself. He decided he had to taken other alternate action or he would have to remain standing for the rest of the meal.  
  
The boy could feel his brother's curious looks at him as he now walked over to the living room area and took a smallish cushion from the settee and placed it on the hard seat of the chair before sitting down.  
  
As he looked up, fork in hand, he could see Adam's eyes still on him, waiting for an explanation about the cushion.  
  
"I told Hoss this afternoon that my saddle is chafing my legs a little lately and they are a little bit sore," Joe said, hoping that wouldn't read anymore in his explanation than was necessary. At least he wasn't telling an outright lie. Some of what he was saying about his legs being sore was actually true.  
  
Adam seemed happy enough with his younger brother's explanation and now turned his attention to his own meal that was now rapidly turning cold. Joe's explanation still didn't tell him why the boy was so quiet tonight. He thought it best to explore that avenue after they had all eaten.  
  
Adam glanced up at the grandfather clock and hoped that Ben wouldn't be delayed to much longer tonight. The time was already showing 6.30pm.  
  
*********************************************  
As the evening meal came to a close and Hoss filled his plate with another spoonful of desert, Joe announced that he had finished eating as asked to be excused.  
  
"Sure Joe. How about you get ready for a bath then before bed," Adam suggested.  
  
"Do I really have to go for a bath Adam?" Joe asked in a disappointed tone of voice.  
  
"Yes you do, it won't hurt you, now off you go," Adam said, not raising his voice too much for fear of the boy rebelling even more against his request.  
  
"Yeah, won't hurt much" Joe thought to himself.  
  
Bath time was normally a battle between Joe and his family. On some occasions he would take his bath without so much as a word, but the majority of the time it was a real battle between father and son or in this case older brother and younger brother. What Adam didn't realise it that's Joe's refusal tonight came from the prospect of just how much it really would hurt.  
  
"Hop Sing make nice warm bath for Lil' Joe" the little oriental man said as he heard the beginning of the argument between the brothers. He hoped the soothing water might calm Joe's temper as well as relax him enough for bed shortly thereafter.  
  
"Please don't put any of that smelly soap in tonight Hop Sing," Joe said genuinely, afraid of how much the water on the marks the teacher had left. Soap would just make them sting Joe said to himself.  
  
"You do as Mr Adam says and Hop Sing not put any in," the little man replied, muttering to himself as he headed back to the kitchen towards the bathhouse. How was the boy supposed to have a bath without soap he asked himself.  
  
Hop Sing soon announced that the bath was ready and warm enough. Joe had been sitting very carefully on the settee so as not to move around too much and now very reluctantly got up and walked towards the bathhouse.  
  
Adam watched the boy's deliberate and stiff walking action from behind and noted that the boy must be telling the truth about his legs hurting from the saddle. He made a note to himself to have a look at Joe's saddle after he came home from school tomorrow in an effort to make it more comfortable to ride for him.  
  
"He say anything to you this afternoon Hoss?" Adam now asked his larger framed brother, trying to get an angle on what had caused Joe's sullen mood this evening at the table.  
  
"Don't ask me. I think he is still not talking to me after I turned up late to pick him up," Hoss replied. He had truly believed that was the reason Joe had not spoken to him during the whole of dinner.  
  
Adam now sat back and attempted to go back to reading his book. Truth was his thoughts were still on what was troubling his youngest brother.  
  
In the bathhouse, Joe was just beginning to get undressed. He had made sure that he was all alone for a few minutes before getting started. The last thing he wanted tonight was for one of his brothers or Hop Sing to accidentally walk in and see the marks on the backs of his legs.  
  
Whilst in his heart he knew he should be telling his family exactly what had happened that day. The fear of the man's words about what might happen if he did tell remained strong in his mind.  
  
He had another day of school to get through yet and he would prefer to get through it sitting in the classroom and not being locked away in the back storeroom.  
  
Joe was just about to get into the large metal tub when he saw the mirror standing up against the wall of the bathhouse. Normally Joe didn't take much note of what he looked like before or after a bath, but as he stood there with nothing on, and turned to the side slightly, it was hard for his eyes to avoid the red welts that now adorned the skin on his thighs.  
  
The welts, whilst not bleeding or such, they still stood out against the white skin on the boy. Joe had no doubt that there would be some bruising present in a few days. He would need to make sure very carefully that nobody saw his legs until after the bruises had healed fully.  
  
Joe now tried to put the images out of his head as he put his feet into the tub and to sit down for his bath. The water on his toes was surprising very warm and the steam rising up from the water had an almost immediate relaxing quality to it.  
  
Joe tried to clear his head of all thoughts and events of the day as his knees and lower legs came into contact with the warmth of the water.  
  
The boy was forced to clamp a hand over his own mouth though and clench his teeth together to avoid releasing the cry of pain as the welted area now came into contact with the water. Joe had tears in his eyes at the stinging sensation he felt as he forced his body further and further into the water.  
  
For the next few minutes all Joe could do was keep his eyes shut and his face taunt as he waited for the stinging to abate. Luckily this didn't take too long and Joe once again found there only to be a dull ache in the back of his thighs. The ache was slowly becoming less and less and the water soothed the reddened area.  
  
Joe had removed the bandage around his burn mark before getting into the tub. He dabbed gentle at the area with the warm water and was happy to note that it didn't look as red today.  
  
Joe washed his body before the water became too cold. He hoped that the warm water would also help to quicken the healing process of his legs. When he was clean enough and whilst the water still felt good on his skin, he lay his curly head back against the metal rim of the tub.  
  
The steam was now lessening due to the cooling off of the water, but there was still enough inside the bathhouse itself to massage Joe's senses and let his mind and body relax. Another five minutes without movement and Joe's eyes began to slid close.  
  
************************************************* Half an hour had now passed since Joe had been sent for his bath. Adam looked up at the clock and wondered what the boy was doing in there. First he wanted to argue about going at all and now it looked as though he didn't want to come out.  
  
Adam sighed as he put his book aside temporarily and now strode out through the kitchen's back door to the bath house.  
  
Out of courtesy for his brother, Adam knocked on the wooden door. He put his ear up to it but couldn't hear any sounds coming from inside. There was no answer so he knocked again a little harder and more impatiently this time.  
  
"Joe, are you finished in there?" Adam asked.  
  
The sound of the knocking on the door and the calling out, startled Joe awake from his fitful doze. He looked around a little confused at first as he had done when Hoss awoke him before dinner. Again he hadn't even realised that he had fallen asleep. Better not tell Adam he had fallen asleep in the tub, he reminded himself.  
  
"Almost," came the reply a few seconds later. Adam could now hear the sound of sloshing water as Joe scrambled out of the tub and grabbed a towel to dry himself.  
  
"Want some help?" Adam now asked and attempted to open the door.  
  
Joe gasped in alarm as he saw the handle turn and the door open slightly. He jumped up against the door and used all of his weight behind it to stop his brother from opening the door any further.  
  
"No Adam, don't come in," Joe said "I'll be out in a minute." he added, trying to hold the door against Adam and trying to prevent the towel around his waist from falling to the floor with the other hand. He couldn't risk Adam coming in and seeing the marks from the teacher.  
  
"Okay okay, just hurry up so others can have a bath too," Adam said a little annoyed at Joe's sudden display of independence. He knew there would come a day when Little Joe got embarrassed about being naked in front of his brothers, but at seven years old, he thought he had at least another 4 or 5 years before that started.  
  
As Joe heard the sound of Adam's retreating footsteps, he released his weight against the door and let out the breath that he had been holding in.  
  
A few minutes later, Joe emerged through the kitchen into the living room, fully dressed but when wet curls hanging over his forehead. A towel was still hanging over one shoulder to catch the drops of water from his hair.  
  
"Do you want to wrap your arm back up tonight?" he added, remembering to keep a check on the burn from yesterday.  
  
"Nah, it's fine thanks Adam. Doesn't even hurt anymore and it's better already" Joe said holding his arm out slightly so that his brother could see the slightly pink area encircling the boy's upper arm.  
  
"All clean little buddy?" Adam now asked casually, trying to clear the tense air from before. He wasn't quite convinced that the burn was as healed as Joe said it was but from a distance, the mark didn't look swollen or blistered at all. He decided to take a look at it later on after the boy was asleep to save arguments.  
  
"Yeah thanks, but I have got homework to do so I am going up to do that in my room." Joe replied using the homework that he hadn't done the previous night.  
  
"Homework, on the second last day before schools ends," Hoss stammered. "Boy that new teacher you have must be a real tough nut Joe."  
  
"Yeah, you could say that Hoss," Joe said glumly and headed up the stairs without getting any further into the subject.  
  
"Maybe that teacher has been rough on him," Hoss remarked to Adam as he tried to figure out the earlier question of what might be wrong with Joe.  
  
"Maybe," Adam said looking up briefly from his book.  
  
***************************************************  
  
Joe could relax just that little bit more now that he was in the sanctuary of his own room. He knew that he would be able to hear his brothers coming before they came into his room.  
  
As he lay the wet towel over the other end of the chair beside the bed, the sight of the jacket, reminded him to pull out the note from Mr Watson and read it.  
  
Joe now pulled out the small envelope with his name printed on the front. He waited until he was sitting on the bed again before attempting to open it. He winced again as he had temporarily forgotten about the welts on his legs and they rubbed harshly against his trousers and the bed covers.  
  
He turned the envelope over in his small hands for a few minutes, thinking about what the consequences might be once his father saw the envelope already opened. Then again he told himself he hadn't fully made up his mind to give the note to his father yet. He had told Mr Watson he would but that all depended on what the contents of the note were.  
With a audible sigh he placed a thumb under the back flap of the envelope and then very carefully started to lift it open. If it didn't tear too much he might be able to reseal or re-close it as though it hadn't been opened at all. It didn't take much effort to open it, revealing the neatly folded piece of white paper inside.  
  
As innocent as the piece of paper might have seen from within the envelope, Little Joe couldn't help but swallow nervously as he used two fingers to take it out.  
  
He placed the now opened envelope on the bed beside him and now stared intently at the folded paper, hoping secretly there was someway of knowing the contents without creasing it any further.  
  
Knowing full well that he really couldn't know what it said unless he unfolded it, Joe carefully started to read the contents.  
The note read as such:  
  
Mr Cartwright,  
  
My name is John Watson and I have been appointed as the replacement teacher for the Virginia City school until the school holidays in the absence of Ms Jones.  
  
It has come to my attention that your son Joseph has been using his left hand to write with. Upon approaching your son about this subject he informs me that this inappropriate method of writing has been allowed to continue for quite a considerable time.  
  
My duty as a teacher has lead me to write this letter to inform you that if Joseph continues to use his improper hand then he will soon sadly lag behind the rest of his classmates. He will not be able to successfully complete his studies to an acceptable standard and his education as a whole will suffer greatly.  
  
I write to you as his father in the hope that you will be able to point out to him why this practice has to cease immediately. I see it as your duty as a parent and guardian to ensure that he changes his habits to enable him to be regarded as a successful student.  
I must point out that Joseph's behaviour during my appointment has been most disturbing of late. The boy doesn't seem to be able to follow the simplest of instructions and is very disruptive to the rest of the class room.  
  
I demand to see a dramatic improvement in your son's behaviour within a very short period of time or I will be forced to take drastic measures of my own to ensure that he is more obedience and respectful.  
  
Yours sincerely  
  
John Watson Teacher  
Joe's bottom lip began to tremble as he read the last paragraph of the letter. How could he show such words to his father and not expect him to believe every word that Mr Watson had written about him?  
  
The seed of self doubt had begun to grow inside Joe's mind again, leaving him with very little self confidence. With a heavy heart about what the teacher thought of him, Joe folded the letter back up again and placed it back inside the envelope. He then placed the envelope in the pocket of his jacket again.  
  
The little boy cuddled into his toy bear Bo and laid down on his pillow, his face turned away from the doorway in case somebody came in and saw the tears falling down his cheeks.  
  
His mother Marie had taught him to write when he was very small. He had always used his left hand. She had never gotten mad at him or told him it was wrong. Why was everybody telling him now it was wrong? Why was it wrong?  
  
Joe told himself that he didn't feel any different to the rest of this family because he wrote with the opposite hand. He didn't fall behind any of his class mates now because he wrote his work using his left hand.  
  
The worries of the day soon caught up with the boy and the heaviness in his heart remained as his eyelids slid closed and his breathing evened out as he fell asleep.  
  
****************************************************  
It was only about half an hour after Joe went to sleep in his room, that Ben Cartwright opened the front door to the house and walked in.  
  
He looked over at the living room as he removed his hat and gun belt and placed them on the credenza.  
  
"Hello boys," Ben said again looking over at his sons, but this time noticing the youngest boy was missing from the room. "Where's Little Joe?"  
  
"Said he had some homework to do and went to his room a little while ago Pa," Hoss answered.  
  
"He actually offered to do his homework tonight Hoss?" Ben said with a little surprise in his voice. It wasn't very often that Joe actually volunteered to do homework. This admittance by his middle son prompted Ben to think that more had occurred tonight than he was being told.  
  
"Yeah Pa, but he was soughta moody all night. Hardly spoke to Adam and me and when he did he got in a huff," Hoss said with downcast eyes.  
  
"Moved around a lot at the table is what I remember," Adam chose to add.  
  
"Why was he moving around at the table Adam?" Ben now found himself asking.  
  
Getting any sort of coherent explanation from any of his sons was proving more of a chore than he would have liked. Unfortunately all of his sons had become quite adept at it, even Joseph who was only seven years old.  
  
"Said his saddle was chafing his legs Pa" Adam replied, "I have already offered to take a look at it after school tomorrow" he quickly added noting the smile on his father's face at his offer of help.  
  
"Thanks son," Ben replied. Hop Sing was now placing his boss's evening meal on the dining room table. Ben went over towards the table, looking as though he was about to sit down. Sure enough though his eyes drifted towards the stairs and the doorway at the end of the hallway.  
  
Ben sighed loudly to himself and knew that he was in no mood for eating until he went up to talk to his youngest son about his avoidance of his brothers earlier in the evening.  
  
Hop Sing began mumbling to himself about why he bothered cooking meals for such an unappreciative family. But by the time the little Cantonese man had reached the doorway to the kitchen, he watched Ben climb the stairs with a smile on his face knowing that he would put things right with the youngest Cartwright.  
  
Ben briefly knocked on Joe's bedroom door when he got to the top of the stairs. He waited a few seconds and like Adam, knocked a second time and waited for a response before turning the door handle and walking inside.  
  
When he entered the room, Ben soon saw why his knock at the door hadn't been answered. He could see Joe laying on his side on the bed, his face turned away from the door. As he walked closer, quietly so as not to wake the sleeping child, Ben found himself gazing down at Joe as he slept, unaware of his visitor.  
  
It concerned Ben that Joe had gone to bed reasonably early two nights in a row. He knew the extra sleep wasn't a problem, but Joe was not normally a boy who went to bed early.  
  
Normally he would fall asleep on the couch downstairs trying to keep up his two older brothers before being chased upstairs and having a story read before being tucked in, usually by Ben himself or Adam.  
  
Ben was tempted for a moment to wake his son and try and find out what was bothering him. He decided against it and thought it best to wait until morning.  
  
He now picked up the covers on Joe's bed and was about to drape them across the boy to keep him warm when he noticed that his son was still wearing trousers. Adam had told him about having a bath and Joe's efforts to be independent, but he hadn't changed into a night shirt.  
  
Ben bent down and was about to start undressing his son for bed. Unknowingly he had placed his hand on the back of Joe's right thigh, across the welt marks that Mr Watson had caused.  
  
The action reignited the ache that had been there earlier, and although he didn't wake fully, Joe began to moan slightly at the pain he did feel. Ben withdrew his hand, afraid that the child would wake fully and then have trouble sending him back to sleep.  
  
Ben now reminded himself about the burn on Joe's arm and he now moved to take off the boy's shirt so that he could take a look at the healing injury. This too proved to be easier said then done as the boy swatted Ben's hand away at the gentle jostling he was receiving.  
  
Ben tried a second time to try and get the boy into a night shirt, but the reaction and the mumbling at the pain had been the same. For one night he decided that it was okay for the boy to remain in his trousers. He would have a talk with Joe in the morning about remembering to change in to a night shirt before going to bed in future.  
  
"Goodnight son" Ben said as he gently caressed the boy's forehead. He truly hoped that Joe would open up to him about what was causing him to feel so sad at the moment. He remembered overhearing Joe say that he wanted someone to play with but with all the action that had happened since then, he thought that problem may have worked itself out.  
At least with the timber yard back on track to a certain degree, he could devote a few days over the school holidays to his son after he came home from school tomorrow. He might be able to organize a short camping trip with the whole family for Joe to try and pluck up his spirits. Hopefully in a few days Joe would be back to his happy, energetic self without a care in the world.  
  
Ben now came downstairs to the curious looks of both Adam and Hoss.  
  
"He's asleep," he said to their questioning glances and noting the brief time Ben had been in Little Joe's room. "He went to sleep in his clothes but it was going to disturb him too much to try and change him into a night shirt."  
  
Adam and Hoss both nodded at their father's comments and knew what trouble their father would have been in for if the boy was disturbed after he had fallen asleep. It would be a rather worse episode of when Hoss went to wake the youngster on a school morning. Not something to look forward to at all.  
  
"Can I get something hot to eat now please Hop Sing?" Ben asked kindly, tired and worn out from a long day. But to his dismay the little Cantonese man went back into his kitchen to reheat Ben's dinner, clashing pans and pots as he went. Adam and Hoss had to hold back their mirth to just wide grins at the cook's antics.  
  
****************************************************  
CHAPTER EIGHT  
  
The next morning, surprisingly Little Joe awoke before Hoss came in and yanked the blankets off him. He laid in his bed for a moment, enjoying the silence and the solitude before attempting to stretch some of the tiredness out of his muscles.  
  
Joe noticed that his thighs weren't as sore this morning as they had been the day before. He got up off the bed and let his trousers fall to the floor. With an awkward turn of his head over the back of his shoulder, he tried to get a glance at the welts and see if there was any noticeable healing.  
  
To his relief, the welt themselves were gone this morning. There were faint outlines of bruises where the horizontal red marks had been but other than that, his skin was devoid of any other injury from the previous day's events.  
  
Joe had heard somebody climbing the stairs and quickly re-buttoned his trousers before the person reached the door. By the sound of the heavy foot-steps, he picked the person on the stairs to be his father this morning rather than Hoss.  
  
Joe quickly filled the basin on his bedside table with water from a jug and submerged his hands into the cool liquid just as Ben opened the door to greet his son.  
  
"Well, I must say this is a pleasant surprise Joseph," Ben said with a genuine smile on his face. Maybe his son was trying to amend his normal morning ritual of being dragged out of bed.  
  
"Morning Pa," Joe replied, giving his father a flashy smile before resuming his pretence of washing his face and hands. "I will be down to breakfast in a minute."  
  
Ben took note of the boy's mood and noted it to be decidedly more cheerful this morning than Adam or Hoss had hinted at last night when he arrived home. Maybe the boy had just had a bad afternoon and a good night's sleep had done it's job of replenishing the boy's youthful outlook.  
  
"See you downstairs then Joe, after you have changed your clothes of course," Ben said, making sure that his son understood about the habit of sleeping in his clothes at night.  
  
"Sorry Pa, guess I was just over-tired last night. I will change before breakfast," Joe replied.  
  
Ben left the bedroom so that his son could get changed. He hoped that the boy's pleasant manner would continue throughout the rest of the day and certainly through the school holidays that were upon them already.  
  
After Ben had left, Joe had started to change into fresh clothes as he said he would. But after seeing the slight bruising on the back of his legs again his thoughts quickly turned to the schoolhouse and what might be in store for him today.  
  
As he changed clothes, he seriously thought about feigning illness to avoid going to school on the last day. But given that his father had already seen him once this morning with very little indication that he was sick, he didn't think that would work in his favour.  
  
Then Joe thought to himself about all of the things Mr Watson had said about him. The note he had read last night, the jibes in class about him not paying attention and him being called a troublemaker. Joe felt as though he was being constantly picked on and harassed by this teacher.  
  
If he didn't turn up at school today, then Mr Watson would think he had won the battle. He would say that Joe Cartwright couldn't face the man after receiving the unnecessary punishment and rough handling of the last two days. He couldn't let the teacher think that he had bullied the boy into submissiveness.  
  
If the teacher tried to tighten his grip to prevent the young man from getting out of line, Joe decided to actively challenge the man and show him that he wasn't going to be threatened by anybody.  
  
Joe finished dressing and ran a comb through his unruly curls once before heading out his bedroom door down to the breakfast table.  
  
"Took your time didn't you son," Ben commented as he noticed a full ten minutes had expired since his son said he would join the family for breakfast.  
  
"And even then he couldn't be bothered combing his hair properly," Adam said as he spied the untamed locks over the boy's forehead. He knew as well as any of the family that Joe's hair was hard to maintain at any given time but he thought he would try and keep his brother in the good mood his father told them Joe had woken in.  
  
"Tis too combed properly Adam," Joe said with a scowl on his face before quickly shoving a buttered piece of toast into his mouth. He hadn't even sat down at the table properly yet.  
  
"Joseph will you please sit down before you eat," Ben said, trying not to sound impatient first thing in the morning.  
  
"Sure Pa," Joe replied innocently before turning to Adam when he thought his father wasn't looking and giving him a second frown at the comments about his hair.  
  
"What have you got planned for the school holidays Joe?" Ben now asked, hoping to gain a little inside information about his son's plans before springing the surprise of the camping trip on him later that night.  
  
"Nothin much Pa, probably go fishing with Johnny or something," Joe said, having not really given it much thought until his father asked just now.  
"Well then, you had better get started to school then if you want the day to be over," Ben now said with a grin. He knew that Joe would probably think the whole day was going to drag with the holidays coming.  
  
"See you later Pa," Joe said as he gave his father a brief embrace once he scrambled from the table. Hop Sing was standing only a few metres away with his lunch satchel in his hand.  
  
"Boy make sure eat lunch today, not eat lunch two day now, Hop Sing not make lunch not to eat." the cook said in a friendly way. He was a little concerned though that Joe's lunch hadn't been touched for two days in a row.  
  
Hop Sing tried to put things in there today that he knew the boy liked and hoped would eat. At least with the holidays coming, he would be able to monitor what the boy was eating during the middle of the day a little better.  
  
"Yeah Hop Sing," Joe promised briefly glancing back at his father, hoping Ben hadn't heard too much about him not eating at lunch time.  
  
"Bye Hoss and Adam, see you when I come home," Joe said as he scurried out the door towards the barn to saddle his horse Blackie.  
  
"Bye Short Shanks," Hoss tried to say to his brother, but by the time he had completed the sentence, the doorway was empty and Hoss was talking to thin air. At least Joe hadn't commented about him being allowed to stay home again today.  
  
Bye Joe Adam thought to himself knowing that the boy was just full of energy. Adam didn't reply to his brother's words but smiled to himself as he sipped at the remainder of his coffee.  
****************************************************  
  
On the way to school, Joe told himself that he would try and comply with whatever Mr Watson wanted today just to get through the day. After today, the teacher would be gone and after the school holiday's break Miss Jones would be back and things would be a lot better. He just had to manage to get through this one more day and then he would have the entire school holidays to forget all about Mr Watson.  
  
John Watson had left his hotel room early that morning, about the same time as Little Joe was leaving home. He intended to purchase his ticket for the evening stage and be on it as soon as it departed this afternoon.  
  
With all he had been made to endure with teaching in an environment and school he believed beneath his capabilities, he planned to be out of Virginia City as soon as possible.  
  
As he arrived at the school house he noticed the Cartwright boy had also just arrived and was still unsaddling and tending to his horse in the school stable.  
  
The boy seemed to be laughing and joking with another boy Tommy Wilkins. Watson frowned at the two boys. He didn't think either of them had anything to laugh about. Neither of them had been paying attention in school.  
  
Watson recalled the events of the previous day and wondered if the Cartwright boy had gone home and told his family what had happened.  
  
With no sign of any family or adults waiting out the classroom, Watson assumed that the Joe had not breathed a word to anyone. He couldn't see the Scott boy for the time being and so it was only Joe's word against his at the moment with nobody else in sight to back him up.  
  
Even if they decided to tell their families after school today, Watson would be on the stage by the time their families knew and wouldn't be reachable by any of them or answerable to any demanding questions about his harsh teaching methods.  
  
Precisely at 9.00am, Watson stood at the top of the stairs inside the school room and rang the bell, signalling all students that they should be now seated at their desks to begin the day's lessons.  
  
For the second time in as many days, Joseph Cartwright was the last student to enter the building. Joe never spoke to the teacher and Watson didn't utter a word to the boy, but both had looked at each other as they passed.  
  
Watson's eyes had been hard and cold as Joe looked at the teacher. When Watson stared back into the boy's emerald green eyes, he thought he saw a hint of fear but there also looked to be a sparkle of defiance there as well. The teacher was determined to make sure that any sign of rebellion was quickly thwarted.  
  
Joe took his place as his desk and tried his best to ignore the stares from the teacher. Although he was sure that the man's eyes were boring into the back of his skull.  
  
Joe decided to try and forget all that had happened and just try and get through the day as best he could without riling Mr Watson. Once the day was over, the holidays would begin and he would be able to relax just a little easier.  
  
Joe had noticed the absence of his friend Johnny Scott this morning. Johnny hadn't mentioned anything about feeling sick the day before and he couldn't think of any other genuine reason for his friend missing school. Maybe he was required to stay home and help his father at their ranch.  
  
He was totally unaware that his friend Johnny had seen and heard every words of the conversation that had taken place between him and Mr Watson. He didn't know that Johnny had seen the beating with the ruler or that the teacher had noticed Johnny's presence.  
  
For the next half hour, Joe tried his hardest to bend to the teacher's rules and listen to any instructions very carefully. He even attempted to write with his right hand as awkward as it was.  
  
Normally when Joe wrote with his left hand, he was easily able to turn his work on an angle to improve his wrist position. When he tried to write with his right hand like the teacher wanted him to, he found it increasingly difficult even to grip the pencil with his fingers enough to be able to make any mark on the paper.  
  
Watson had been watching Joe with his efforts to right with his right hand and smiled to himself as he thought his threats and caning had done it's job. The next action the child did though made him see red. He also believed that the child had only been pretending to trying to follow the rules and instructions as given.  
  
The child was trying to mock him in his own classroom Watson told himself. Something which he wouldn't tolerate under any circumstances and certainly not in front of a room full of seven and eight year olds.  
  
Joe had been trying to do his lessons and was not watching Watson's face to notice in facial colour. He had briefly put the pencil back on his desk and tried to rub some of the cramping out of his hand from writing at such an awkward new angle.  
  
When he went to resume his work, Joe didn't realise that his brain had automatically reminded him to pick up the pencil in his left hand and proceed to write with it. Writing with his left hand had been so natural for Joe over a few years and he didn't even realise what he had done.  
  
While the rest of the students had been doing their own work, Watson was determined to make an example out of this child in front of the whole classroom. He had tried to chastise the boy by sending notes home to his father. The boy hadn't even given such a note to his father to read.  
  
When that didn't seem to have worked and he had felt it necessary to discipline the child after school when the inappropriate behaviour had continued unchanged yet again. Now the boy was openly defying him again after such disciplinary action had been taken. It was time to teach the boy a lesson in front of his class mates.  
  
Watson had walked around to his desk and pulled out the ruler that he had used on the back of the boy's legs the previous day. He now held it to the side so as not to draw attention to himself or what he actually intended to do. A few of the other student looked up and saw him walking through the rows of desks, but a quick frown from the teacher saw them studiously put their heads back down towards their own desks.  
  
"What do you think you are doing Mr Cartwright?" Watson now barked as he stood in an imposing stance over the desk of Little Joe.  
  
Joe had been concentrating on the maths problems in front of him and had not heard the teacher's approaching footsteps. It was at the shouting voice of Mr Watson that Joe was startled and jumped slightly in his chair.  
  
Joe found himself trying to regain his composure and swallowing in fear slightly before answering the teacher's question.  
  
Watson saw this as another act of defiance. "ANSWER ME" he said through clenched teeth as he tried to reign in the anger he felt at such a disobedient child.  
  
"I was doing my work Sir," Joe said in a small voice, moving away from the teacher slightly as he remained in his seat. It was only now that the boy noticed that the pencil was clasped in his left hand and he now looked back up at the teacher, knowing that this is why the teacher looked so angry at the moment.  
  
"Doing your work Mr Cartwright, with your left hand," Watson shouted. By now most of the other children were looking on at the scene being played out in front of them.  
  
Before Joe or any of them could react, Watson due his hand up and brought down the implement in his hand. Joe's left-hand had been resting on the desk innocently enough, but the ruler in Watson's hand now came down on the boy's wrist with considerable force. Joe was forced to release his grip on the pencil as his cry of pain rang out through the classroom.  
  
Tears were now spilling down Little Joe's cheeks as he got out of his chair and began backing away from the angry teacher towards the front of the room. His wrist was carefully being held against his chest and nursed protectively by his other hand.  
  
Some of the other children in the room had let out a cry of fear as they saw what the teacher done to Joe and as they now gazed upon their frightened and injured friend. None of them could scarcely believe what they had just seen Mr Watson do.  
  
Watson himself was now standing with a shocked expression on his face with the ruler clearly visible to all the students. He had meant to strike the child but not as hard as had occurred. He didn't know what was going to happen to him once word got around about what he did, but at the moment all he could do stand fixated to the one spot.  
  
Without so much as a word, Joe Cartwright now escaped to the outside of the class room and stumbled along the pathway to the front gate. Tears were still spilling down his cheeks.  
  
When he first reached the fence he was a little dazed and confused with the pain from his wrist and unsure of what direction to take. He had temporarily forgotten about his mount Blackie in the school stable. He looked briefly in the direction of home and wondered whether he could find his way back to the Ponderosa.  
  
As the pain in his wrist spiked again, his mind told him that he should be seeking help for his arm. The next person he thought of was Doctor Paul Martin, whose office was only a short walk from the school in Virginia City. As much as Joe normally tried to avoid the man of medicine, the pain he was feeling at the moment told him that he needed to have his wrist looked at.  
  
Back at the school house, the rest of Joe's class mates were now huddling together in a small group in a corner of the class room away from the teacher Mr Watson. Some of the smaller girls were at the back and crying, the boys were at the front trying to act as brave as they dared. Most of them were wondering where poor Little Joe was. The hoped somebody would come along and get them away from this monster before too long.  
  
As his friends wondered where he was, Little Joe was half-running, half- walking along the main street of Virginia City. He soon reached a familiar brown wooden door that he had seen on previous occasions. The sight of the door brought a little relief for Joe in the hope that the person inside would be able to help him and alert his family that he needed him.  
  
As it turned out, Paul Martin was on his own in his surgery when he heard the front door open. He had been completing some paper work and trying to catch up on reading some new medical newsletters from back east. He was curious to know who it was at his door because he didn't remember having any scheduled appointments until later on that afternoon.  
  
Paul had only just reached the doorway to his office when he was met by a very distraught Joe Cartwright.  
  
"Doc... you gotta help me please!!!", the boy pleaded as he tried to grab a hold of Paul's jacket with his right hand. His left hand remained instinctively held curled against his chest in a protective position. Tears were still streaming down the young boy's face and he was trying to catch his breath from the running he had just done in getting to Paul.  
  
"Slow down Little Joe," Paul said, putting a reassuring and comfortable arm around the boy as he led him into his treatment room. It hadn't taken but a moment's glance to recognize the curly head that was resting against him. "Tell me what's the matter son." he added, trying to give a skilful look over the lad in search of the boy's distress.  
  
The added tension of trying to tell the doctor what was wrong with him though and what the teacher had done, only seemed to make the child's distress even worse. Joe now sobbed into the sleeve of Paul's jacket, unable to put the words together to describe his ordeal.  
  
"He hit me," was the only words that Paul could honestly work out and even they were sketchy at best. Paul didn't know who Joe meant by "him". Maybe Joe had been in a schoolyard fight with one of the older boys.  
  
Paul now turned his attention to Joe's injury, knowing that the boy wouldn't have sought the safety of his clinic unless he was truly hurting. Very gently the doctor tried to pry Joe's left hand away from the boy's chest. From a distance he could see various stages of discolouration and swelling present around the boy's wrist.  
"No," Joe cried through his sobs as soon as he felt his hand being moved. His mind was too concerned with the pain and the other things that had happened to identify who it was that was touching him.  
  
Paul loathed to make the child's distress even more so and made every effort to be as gentle as possible, he pulled Joe away from himself and sat the child on an bed for examination. He briefly left the boy along to get a soft damp cloth and a small bottle of medicine.  
  
Joe was still sniffling and attempting to wipe his tears away as he watched the doctor, but he was now becoming more wary of the man as he saw the medicine bottle. He saw the doctor pour water into a small glass and take a small copper spoon out of a drawer nearby.  
  
Doc Martin now poured a small amount of medicine from the bottle on the spoon and walked towards Joe with it. He held it out towards the boy together with the glass of water.  
  
"It will help it stop hurting Little Joe" Paul said in a soothing voice, trying to get the child to calm down even more. Secretly Paul was trying to work out a way to get word to the boy's family but was worried about leaving the child alone for too long.  
  
Joe winced again as he unconsciously moved his injured wrist. With the pain echoing in his arm, he now looked towards the medicine on the spoon. Without another word he took the spoon from the doctor and swallowed the thick syrup and quickly washed it down with the glass of water. He scrunched his face up with the taste.  
  
"Now you just lay back and rest for a minute while I get the other things I need to take a look at your wrist," Paul suggested, placing a small pillow at the head of the bed behind Joe. He knew that the boy would soon be feeling the drowsy effects of the medicine.  
  
"I want my Pa," Joe said on the verge of tears again as he waited for the pain in his arm to ease. Wearily he laid down on the pillow like the doctor asked but his mind was full of questions.  
  
"I know you do son and I promise I will get him for you just as soon as I can," Paul said trying to comfort the child. "You just rest and leave everything to me."  
  
Now that Paul saw the child laying back on the bed he thought he had enough time to find the medical supplies he needed to examine Joe's injured wrist. He didn't know what had caused the injury, but concerned by the swelling and bruising thought it best to assume the worst and splint the wrist as soon as possible to prevent any further pain for the boy.  
  
The medicine was now beginning to make the boy very sleepy and his eyes were starting to droop. His mind however was still rather alert. He had remembered asking the doctor about getting his father, but couldn't quite remember getting a reply to his request.  
Little Joe's mind told him that if the doctor was too busy at the moment, then he would be okay to make it home on his own. His horse was still at the school and the pain was now numbing in his wrist. He told himself that he would be able to manage to ride home to his father so that the doctor didn't have to worry about bringing his father to town.  
  
With the little confidence that the relaxation provided, Joe very quickly and quietly got off the bed and walked over to the door. His steps were a little unsteady at first due to the medicine, but he made it to the door before Paul had even noticed.  
  
Joe now walked out the doctor's door into the bright sunshine of the morning. He squinted his eyes at the brightness and made sure of the direction he intended to travel before walking slowly along the street.  
  
His confused sense of direction though had led him in the opposite direction, away from the doctor's office towards the livery stable. A few people noticed the boy walking but didn't think it unusual at this time of day. They paid him no heed as Joe made his way further away from his family, still holding his wrist protectively against him.  
  
**********************************************  
  
back at the Ponderosa:  
  
Ben was about to attend to some of the paperwork that had troubled Adam later that morning when there was a knock at the front door.  
  
Adam and Hoss had finished their breakfast and were about to leave to do their various tasks for the day when they too wondered who would be visiting the household this early in the morning.  
  
Maybe it was Joe coming back after he had forgotten his school books or something they thought.  
  
"Good Morning Sir," Ben greeted the stranger on the other side of the door. He looked down and saw a boy about Joe's age with him.  
  
"Johnny," Hoss exclaimed as he recognised the youngster standing at the door. He didn't know who the man was but assumed it to be the boy's father.  
  
"Hello Hoss, this is my dad Richard Scott," the boy said, introducing his father to the three older Cartwrights.  
  
"Excuse my poor manners, Mr Scott is it?" Ben said, feeling a little embarrassed that he didn't know who they were.  
  
"Come in won't you Mr Scott," Adam now asked and motioned for them to enter the house.  
  
"Thank you Mr Cartwright," Richard Scott said as he removed his hat and walked into the spacious living room.  
  
"Ben please," the patriarch said.  
  
"What brings you out here Mr Scott?" Hoss asked, a little curious to know why Johnny wasn't in school with his brother Joe.  
  
"I don't know how to tell you folks this, Johnny hasn't told me a great deal about you yet but I have heard what a caring family you were in town," Scott said, a little nervous because of his newness to Virginia City.  
  
"Johnny was supposed to go to school this morning like always," Richard began, answering the unasked question that he saw written on Hoss. "But he refused to go and when I asked him why he said because he was afraid of the teacher Mr Watson."  
  
"Afraid of the teacher," Ben repeated, a little confused by the conversation. Johnny's teacher would also be Joe's teacher and he couldn't remember his son telling him anything about being frightened of the man. Joe had left for school this morning without any noticeable refusal or complaint.  
  
"Would you like to tell me what's been happening at school Johnny?" Ben said in a gentle voice, noticing the boy becoming more and more withdrawn about the subject.  
  
Johnny now looked around the room and was looking for Joe, hoping that his friend had successfully convinced his family to stay home or at least had told them about what he had seen yesterday. "Where's Joe?" the boy asked plainly as he and his father took a seat on the settee.  
  
"Joe went to school this morning Johnny," Ben said as he felt a feeling of dread begin to wrap itself around his heart. Why would this boy not want Joe to go to school?  
  
"Oh Mr Cartwright, you have to go after him and make sure he's okay," Johnny said barely able to hold back his emotions and letting tears of his own run down his face. He was truly afraid for his friend's well-being.  
  
"Why are you so afraid of the teacher Johnny?" Ben tried to ask calmly. His own concerns were beginning to mount by the second but he needed to get the full story before knowing why he had to worry about Joe at school.  
  
Johnny looked a little confused when Ben asked this question, "Didn't he tell you what happened when he came home yesterday?" he asked, thinking that Joe would have said something to his family.  
  
"Tell us what?" Adam now said impatiently, not trying to frighten Joe's friend but more out of his own concern for his brother. He could see the same concern reflected on the faces of his father and brother. He hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary when Joe arrived home yesterday and Joe hadn't said anything happened. Adam was now looking at Hoss for an answer.  
  
"Joe didn't tell me anything when I went to collect him yesterday afternoon," Hoss said in his own defence. "Was a little moody but I thought he was mad at me for being late to pick him up."  
"Mr Watson has been mean to Joe since he got here Mr Cartwright," Johnny explained to Ben. He made Joe stay in at lunch time without eating his lunch and forced him to write with his left hand."  
  
"He did what?" Ben said as he felt his anger rising at hearing of his son's unfair treatment.  
  
"That's not the worst of it though," Johnny added trying to continue so that Joe's family would know why he was so worried about his friend. "Yesterday, Joe was missing from the classroom after lunch. I asked the teacher where he was and he said that Joe was sick and went to the doctor's and was then coming home."  
  
"Joe didn't complain about feeling sick yesterday Johnny," Hoss interrupted  
  
before the boy finished.  
  
"Yes I know, but I saw Joe in Mr Watson's class after school yesterday. I don't know where Joe was for the rest of the time. I snuck up beside the stairs where I thought they couldn't see me. Mr Watson had some sort of ruler in his hand. When he didn't think anybody else was watching I saw him hit Joe with the ruler. And he hit him again." Johnny added, saying how Joe was hit more than once.  
  
"The teacher hit Joe," Ben said with his anger boiling over that somebody else had laid a harsh hand on his child. Also concern that Joe might have been injured and not told anybody.  
  
"Sorry Hoss that I didn't tell you yesterday. I was just too scared. He did see me there and he threatened to do the same to me if I breathed a word to anybody" Johnny said but was truly ashamed of his cowardly actions.  
  
"I don't blame you Johnny," Hoss said as he let the younger boy know that he understood why he had been secretive until know. It also explained why the boy was acting so out of character at the school house yesterday when he arrived to collect Joe.  
  
"Now you know why I brought Johnny here this morning Ben," Richard Scott interjected, noting the Cartwright's reaction to the news about their youngest member.  
  
"So that's why he was moving about in his saddle so much," Hoss said out loud as he recalled Joe using another excuse. " And at the dinner table last night Adam." he added sadly.  
  
"That's why he couldn't sit still and I didn't even know," Adam said as the guilt began to take hold of him. Why hadn't he noticed the signs that anything had been wrong with his brother? Why hadn't he noticed that Joe was hurting?  
  
Adam now told his father about the table incident and about how he suspected that's why Joe hadn't wanted anybody to walk in on him in the bath house.  
  
Ben's heart fell heavy as he realized that Joe had gone through all of this on his own. Thinking that his family didn't want to know or couldn't know, he wasn't sure which. They had to go to the school and make sure that Joe was alright, then he would deal with his so-called teacher and his treatment of Joe.  
  
Adam now knelt in front of the boy, knowing what he was about to do might be difficult for Johnny. "Do you think you could come with us Johnny and tell Sheriff Coffee what you just told us?"  
  
"If that's alright with you Richard," Ben added, making sure that the boy's father was comfortable with what they were asking Joe's friend to do.  
  
"Johnny and I will do anything to help Ben. I just hope your boy is alright," Scott replied. The boy nodded his head in acknowledgement of his willingness to help out his best friend. He really didn't want to see any more bad things happen to Joe at the hands of Mr Watson.  
  
"So do I Richard, so do I," Ben said as he strapped on his gun-belt and grabbed his hat from the peg behind the front door.  
  
"Time to go teach a lesson of our own to a certain teacher Mr Watson," Adam said as he strapped on his own gun-belt and prepared to face the man who had tormented his little brother.  
  
"Get those horses saddled boys, we are going after your brother," Ben said in a no-nonsense tone of voice.  
TO BE CONTINUED  
  
LET'S RIDE - GO GET HIM BEN AND BOYS.......  
  
TO BE CONTINUED (Yeah I know - you are all going to chase after me for leaving you hanging again.  
  
And what has happened to our poor Little Joe? Where did he go?..........................  
  
Hope you will keep reading - thanks JULES 


	7. CHAPTER 7

DEAD MAN'S CANYON - PART 5  
Little Joe Cartwright was slightly confused as he was currently walking down the main street of Virginia City. The bright morning sunshine made him use his good arm to shield his eyes from the harsh light.  
  
The sunshine together with the effects of the medicine that Paul had administered were making his eyes feel very sore at the moment. Joe now sought somewhere more shady to get out of the direct light and get some relief for himself. His wrist wasn't hurting as much now but the swelling of the tissue around the area was quite noticeable.  
  
Joe sought refuse inside the nearest building away from the sunshine. It wasn't until he let his mind adjust to the darkness and the surroundings that he recognized the livery stable. The smell of horses and hay now invaded his senses. His eyes were growing heavier and heavier and he didn't quite have the energy to keep going at the moment.  
  
It was to Joe's relief that he saw nobody in the livery stable. Normally the place was a hive of activity with people coming and going with their animals. But today for some reason there was an eerie silence within. He couldn't even see Charlie, the stable keep who looked after the animals for people.  
  
Joe looked in each of the stalls and was happy to see that the last one was vacant. It looked like it had just had fresh straw forked into it and the fresh hay told Joe just how tired he was. Because it was the last stall in the building, there was no window above to shine bright light in through the roof.  
  
Joe sank gratefully onto the soft bed of fresh hay near the corner. The shadows hid his small frame from the front of the stall. With a tired sigh the boy lay his head back onto the soft material underneath him and with just a few brief flutters, his eyelids closed and he drifted off into an exhausted sleep.  
  
Joe would remain undetected in his place of rest for quite some time.  
  
******************************************************  
  
Ben and his two boys had ridden at a quick pace to Virginia City. They didn't want to leave Joe in the company of the man that had hurt him any longer. Richard Scott and his son Johnny were a few steps behind on their own mounts, ready to assist the Cartwright family where they could.  
  
Ben pulled Buck to a halt outside the school house and strode purposefully towards the front door before anybody else had even dismounted from their horses. Adam and Hoss didn't take long though to follow their father to the classroom.  
  
As they got to the front door, not only did they hear the distinct crying of children, but in front of their eyes, they were able to see Joe's school friends huddled together on the opposite wall. They were distressed and cowering away from the man in front of them wielding a ruler in his hand.  
  
Ben assumed the man with the ruler must have been this Mr Watson who had been Joe's teacher for the past three days. Watson had yet to note the presence of others. He spun around startled when he felt another hand grab at the ruler in his hand. At first he thought it must have been one of the class until he came face to face with the angry face of Ben Cartwright.  
  
"You will release the ruler Sir, or I will break your hand," Ben threatened, without knowledge that Watson had already done as much to his youngest son. Adam was now standing behind his father ready to add his muscle against the teacher if necessary.  
  
Hoss went towards the frightened and distressed children and tried his best to console them. A few of the kids recognized the big boy immediately and sought comfort and protection from their attacker.  
  
Johnny Scott was now in the classroom and could scarcely believe what torment Mr Watson had forced his friends to endure while he was away. His eyes were immediately scanning the children in front of him for Little Joe.  
  
"Where's Little Joe?" Johnny asked one of the little girls from the group.  
  
"You heard him, what have you done with my son?" Ben demanded of the teacher. It wasn't until now that Watson even suspected who the man was. He had initially thought that the strangers had been brought to the school by the sounds of the children crying.  
  
Watson now realised that this must be Joe's father and he swallowed slightly as he looked back at the silvery-haired man. He could see that Ben was in no mood for any delaying tactics or idle chit chat of any kind.  
  
"I don't know," Watson found himself saying, not really knowing why he answered the way he did.  
  
"He hurt Little Joe Mr Cartwright," one of the boys said on Watson's behalf.  
  
"Yes I know he did," Ben answered, looking directly at the teacher as he replied.  
  
"No you don't understand Sir," the youngster continued. "He hurt him with the ruler. He ran out a while ago. I think he might have a broken hand."  
  
Ben now realised that the child was trying to say that the teacher had hurt his son again this morning.  
  
"How did the man hurt Joe, Timmy?" Hoss asked the boy.  
  
"Joe was trying to do his lessons when Mr Watson just came up and hit him with the ruler," the boy said, barely able to contain his emotions. "He hit him hard Hoss, I heard it."  
  
"Johnny you said that the teacher hit his legs with the ruler yesterday," Richard Scott now asked his son. "Are you sure it wasn't his hand?" he added, making sure that the abuse they were hearing of was only new.  
  
Before Johnny could answer his father, hurried footsteps could be heard behind the Cartwrights, coming into the school house. Everybody turned to see the worried and concerned faces of Sheriff Roy Coffee and Doctor Paul Martin.  
  
"Ben, I am so glad I found you," the doctor commented, almost out of breath from the running he had done from his own office. He had seen Ben and his boys approaching the school on horseback. He had stopped briefly to tell Roy about Joe's accident and disappearance and about seeing Ben at the school.  
  
"What are you doing here Paul and Roy?" Ben asked genuinely. He hadn't been to the Sheriff to tell him about Joe's assault by the teacher yet and he didn't think that Paul had been informed of any mistreatment yet.  
  
"Paul came to tell me what happened after Joe ran away," Roy answered.  
  
"Ran away, what are you talking about?" Ben asked out of confusion.  
  
Paul could see that Ben had come into the conversation at the tail end and decided it best to tell him what had happened from the start. He proceeded to tell the family as fast as he dared about the hurt and injured Little Joe coming to his office in great distress.  
  
The Doctor went on to tell Ben about how he had tried to get the youngster to calm down and the swelling and bruising that he had been able to see on Joe's left hand.  
  
The description they were being given seemed to fit in with what Timmy had told them about the teacher hitting Joe's hand hard with the ruler. If they had been concerned about his safety before arriving, they were now close to out of their minds with this new piece of information about fresh injuries and pain that Joe had been feeling.  
  
"I managed to get him to swallow a small amount of medicine for the pain Ben, but when I went to get the splints for his wrists, by the time I came back into the treatment room, he was gone," Paul explained. "I wasn't gone more than twenty seconds or so, but by the time I reached the front door of my office, I couldn't even see him down the street."  
  
"What effect is that medicine likely to have on him and his frame of mind now Paul," Adam asked, concerned that his brother was already wandering around with a considerable amount of pain for a small boy.  
  
Now it seemed that his senses may be somewhat hazy from the pain killer that he had been given by the doctor. Joe might not even know where he was let alone what direction to head in. And where was he intending to go anyway?  
  
"Well Adam, he was pretty distressed as I said when he came into my office. The medicine was already working before I left to get the splints I needed. If he has gone, I wouldn't have thought he would get very far before tiredness would overtake him. The medicine should help with some of the pain, but it won't go away all together and that hand looked very badly swollen when he was holding it against his chest," Paul answered.  
  
Watson had heard all the details as it was told by the doctor. His face never showed any feeling of remorse when they spoke about his striking the boy with the ruler.  
  
"And what have you got to say for yourself?" Ben said, shaking the man by the front of his shirt slightly to make him answer the question.  
  
"I tried to voice my concerns to you Mr Cartwright in a letter the day before yesterday, but that son of yours was a troublemaker from the outset and was determined to do exactly the opposite of what I thought was best for him." Watson said without any emotion in his voice.  
  
"What was best for him?" Ben said in a low angry voice. "WHAT WAS BEST FOR HIM?" he repeated, shouting the words fully into the teacher's face.  
  
"He wouldn't write with his right hand Mr Cartwright. The boy's education would have suffered if I hadn't tried to intervene and stop such a ridiculous practice. You as a parent should understand such matters," Watson now said, voicing his strong-willed opinions about his methods of teaching.  
  
"Mr Watson, you listen and you listen well," Ben warned. "My son writes with his left hand because his is left-handed. His writing does not need correcting so far as I am concerned. As for suffering, you have struck my son with a ruler on two occasions. Because of you my son is hurt and in pain."  
  
"Because of you my son had to seek medical attention from which he has now run away from in fright. Mark my words Mr Watson, if I don't find my son within a very short period of time from now, you will begin to understand the true meaning of the word suffering." Ben now released the man's shirt but never took his eyes away from him.  
  
"Pa we need to start searching for Joe," Adam now said trying to get a search party organized as soon as possible. Hopefully if the medicine was working like the doctor said, they might be able to find Joe before he got too lost.  
  
"Roy will you take this scum bag over to the jail and make sure he stays put until I can find Joe," Ben now said to the Sheriff. "Mr Watson, when I return with my son, I will endeavour to do everything in my power to stop you from ever teaching in a classroom again.  
  
"But I have a stage to catch this afternoon," Watson said indignant that these people thought they were going to stop him leaving this town.  
  
"Mr, the only stage you are going to be catching is the prison wagon when it leaves Virginia City in a few weeks," Ben said in a cool, icy voice. " I aim to see charges pressed against you for the assault you committed and the injuries that you have caused to my son."  
  
"Don't worry Ben, I will take him over to the cells right now and get the search party underway," Roy offered. The Sheriff had known the Cartwright's and Little Joe for a long time and hated to think of anything bad happening to the young boy. He aimed to make sure that the teacher would be having a most uncomfortable night in his jail cell.  
  
"If you like Ben, I will make sure my medical equipment is all ready for when you bring Joe back to my office," Paul Martin now suggested. It was no secret that the doctor was not a competent rider and he would only slow any search party down.  
  
"Thanks Paul, I appreciate it," Ben said but his mind was already on the whereabouts of his youngest son. "Where would he go Paul?" he asked without even realising it.  
  
It was now that Johnny Scott decided to tell Joe's family about his secret. "Mr Cartwright, I don't know if I should be telling you this or not but Joe told me of a place he might like to visit."  
  
"Where Johnny?" Hoss now asked anxiously, kneeling in front of Joe's friend and hoping he knew the answer to everyone's burning question.  
  
"Well, I don't know if he would really go there. It is only a little way away but if he is hurt, then maybe he couldn't make it that far," Johnny started to say. He could see the faces of the adults around him and their real need to find Joe quickly.  
  
"But for the last couple of weeks, Joe has been talking about your happy place Hoss," the boy now said. "Dead Man's Canyon. Joe's was saying how much he would like to go there."  
  
"Even that place seems a little bit out of the way Ben," Paul Martin now interjected. He rather thought that the search for Little Joe would find him laying down somewhere for a rest in town. "He could have gone in any number of directions."  
  
"Maybe Paul, we can't be sure and can't afford to take risks," Ben now said as he thought where to start searching first. "We can start having a look around the areas of town that we think Little Joe might have gone. Then after an hour or so if we can't find him we can head out of town a little and up towards Dead Man's Canyon."  
  
"It's a long walk from here for a little boy but he might get part of the way by dark if he has truly gone in that direction," Adam now added to the conversation. He too hoped like his father that Joe would be found in Virginia City somewhere. The road to Dead Man's Canyon wasn't the best for travelling at anytime and especially for one hurt and alone boy of Joe's age.  
  
"I would be glad to help out with the search Ben, but I would like to take my son home first," Richard Scott now stated. The emotions of the day were clearing playing out across the young boy's face as well as his classmates.  
  
"By all means Richard," Ben agreed. "Hoss why don't you take the smaller children home to their parents and tell them that school has been let out early. When your finished, you can help us look for your brother,"  
  
Hoss nodded his head at his father's request and started taking a couple of the children by the hand and leading them out of the classroom. A few of them still shrank back behind Hoss's larger frame until they were far enough out of the reach of Mr Watson.  
  
Roy now started taking Watson over to the jailhouse but promised Ben he would be back shortly with as many people as he could find.  
  
While they waited for Roy to return, Ben, Adam and Paul now set to work about making plans for the search for Little Joe.  
  
When Roy did return to the school house, much to his shame he had only been able to extract the help of his deputy Clem for their search. He apologised for the lack of help offered by the citizens of Virginia City but added that a few mothers had offered to keep an eye out for the youngster from their own doorsteps and front yards.  
  
Ben told the Sheriff that he had done as much as he could and although small in number, they would manage as best as they could and cover as many areas as thoroughly as possible within the shortest possible time.  
  
No matter what, Ben Cartwright and his son Adam resolved themselves to doing everything they possibly could to finding Joe. They wouldn't rest until he was safely tucked away in his own bed and had been seen to by Paul.  
  
*************************************************  
  
At about the time that his friends and family were making efforts to try and find him, Little Joe awoke from the short sleep he had fallen into at the livery stable.  
  
He had been awoken mainly by the pain in his wrist that seemed to be now as bad as when it had first happened. The medicine that Doc Martin had made him swallow was no longer working it's magic.  
  
Joe sat on the straw for a few minutes trying to get his bearings. There was enough residual effect from the pain killer to make his head still a little fuzzy. His eyes still felt gritty and sore and he still felt incredibly tired.  
  
Joe was suddenly startled by the sound of voices inside the livery stable. He didn't know who they were and he didn't recognize them immediately. He was worried about what they might say or do if they found him there in the stable without a reason. He curled himself up against the wall of the stable as much as possible and used the darkness as his shield against being seen or noticed.  
  
"Hear that Ben Cartwright is still out looking for his youngster," came one of the voices.  
  
"Yeah, that's what Sheriff Coffee said when he was here a while ago. Said Ben was angrier than he had even seen," the second voice responded.  
  
"I'd hate to be in his shoes right about now," the first voice stated, meaning the fate of Mr Watson the teacher.  
  
For a very confused seven year old though, the words he heard seemed to tumble all together somehow until he was sure that they were talking about his family being angry about him missing from the school house.  
  
Joe didn't know why his father had come looking for him in the middle of the day. Part of him sagged in relief that his Pa had come to town. If only he weren't angry at him he would be able to tell Pa what Mr Watson had done to him.  
  
But the man had just said that Ben was angry about his missing boy. And somehow the Sheriff was now involved which made Joe think he was in trouble even more. He didn't know if he could face whatever was in store for him.  
  
Maybe he could go away for a little while until things calmed down at home. If they began to miss him then maybe they wouldn't be so angry anymore and he could come home. But where could he go? He didn't have any food or even a horse to go anywhere. To add to his worries, his wrist began throbbing in earnest again.  
  
Then he suddenly remembered where he was. The Livery Stable. Of course, there were horses here. None of them belonged to him but if he just borrowed one for a little while it would surely be okay, Joe persuaded his inner self. His arm was sore but by morning maybe it wouldn't be so sore anymore. Hopefully he wouldn't need to be away from his family for much more than a night before he was missed.  
  
As if in protest at his thoughts, Joe's empty stomach grumbled badly at the thought of an entire night without food. He hadn't had much today at all.  
  
Before he could change his mind again, Joe waited for a few minutes to make sure that the two men he had heard were now gone. He peeked out around the stall and began looking at the other stalls and what mounts they had that he might be able to use.  
  
The first stall had a great big white horse that was snorting and stamping his feet about as though frustrated at being kept in such as place. The stall next to that one had another horse that seemed very big.  
  
Upon looking into the third stall, Joe began to think that he just might be able to ride that particular horse. It was smaller than the first two but big enough to be ridden by an adult. It's coat was almost chestnut in colour.  
  
Joe looked to check the coast was clear and then tiptoed across the straw floor of the livery stable and held out his uninjured hand to the horse. The horse was a little bit wary of the strange hand at first but put it's soft pink nose against the boy's palm.  
  
Joe had to stifle back a giggle at the tickling that the soft nose made on his hand. He looked around worriedly, knowing he couldn't let himself be found or he would be in serious trouble.  
  
Little Joe looked down at his injured hand and winced at the pain that was still coming from the swollen wrist. He knew that he would not be able to saddle the horse on his own. He normally needed a little help to saddle his own pony back at the Ponderosa, even if he didn't like to admit it. Today he would have to ride without a saddle.  
  
Joe now started to untie the halter rope that was tied to a hook on the pole between the two stalls. Being one-handed, it took a few seconds for the loops to loosen enough for him.  
  
The smaller horse didn't seem to be worried by the fact that a strange little boy was untying and attempting to lead him out of the stall. With relative ease and a small gentle pull on the rope, Joe found the horse following his command and now standing beside him outside of the stall.  
  
The next tricky part about this whole thing Joe realised was how to mount the horse with only one hand. He looked down at his left hand and the pain he was still feeling was enough to convince him that he would have to try with his right.  
  
Joe now led the smaller chestnut coloured horse to the rear door of the stable. Most horses and riders left via the bigger and wider doors near the front of the building.  
  
Hopefully, if he used this particular door, nobody would see him or the horse he was borrowing for a while. He was sure that they would understood he would bring the horse back safely. Or at least that's what his tired mind told him the person who owned the horse would think.  
  
Little Joe now tucked a tuft of the horse's mane in between the fingers of his right hand to give him more leverage and assistance to mount. Even doing this though it was much more difficult trying to climb onto the animal's back with only one hand.  
  
After much effort and a few winces from the pain in his left hand as it made contact, Joe managed to sit straddled on the horse's back. It had taken much more out of him to get onto the animal and the boy now took some long deep breaths in order to stop himself falling off again.  
  
With his mind slowly turning over with the words he had overheard, Joe was sure that his family would not be happy about how late he was. He persuaded himself once again that the way to get his father forgive him for his lateness was to wait until his family missed him.  
  
If they were worried about him and he finally came home with his injured hand, they would soon forget all about his tardiness and all about him leaving school early without permission.  
  
Little Joe now nudged the horse forward into a slow walk away from the livery stable and towards the end of the town. For the next half an hour he didn't think of anything very much at all. His body was beginning to slowly relax due to the soft rocking motion that the walking horse provided. It was very difficult for the still tired and injured boy to stop from falling asleep over his mount's neck.  
  
After an hour, he found his mind thinking again which he was slightly grateful for. The alertness of his mind would stop him from drifting off to sleep again.  
  
Now Joe found himself wondering about what he was going to do for the rest of the night. He had no supplies with him or the horse, not even a canteen of water to share between them. There was not a bite to eat and his stomach had already put in another round of protests a few miles back about feeling so empty.  
  
The sun would soon be setting and with the darkness, the night temperature would soon begin to drop also. Joe didn't even have a match that he could use to start a campfire with.  
  
He knew how. Hoss had shown him a couple of times how to light a small fire. But now that didn't really make much of a difference because there wasn't anything to light it with.  
  
Joe tried to think of somewhere that maybe slightly sheltered and where there might be a waterhole nearby so that he and the horse could at least get a drink of water. That's when the place that he and Hoss had visited came to him: Dead Man's Canyon.  
  
Little Joe didn't quite remember how many miles it was to the "Happy Place" that Hoss had taken him too. It was quite a long time ago and the reason he remembered it so well was because of the good memories it provided him of with his brother.  
  
Joe looked around the landscape that he was currently travelling in and although he could scarcely keep from falling asleep, he tried to remember if any of the rocks or trees seemed familiar to him. After another mile of trying to watch the things around him, Joe was satisfied that he was at least travelling in the right direction to Dead Man's Canyon.  
  
****************************************************  
Back in Virginia City, Ben was getting more and more worried about his missing and injured son. He and his boys had been searching for over two hours now and no sign of the youngster had been found anywhere.  
  
Together, each of them had searched every nook and cranny they could think would harbour a small frightened boy. Until now they had come up empty handed each time.  
  
The more they searched, the more frustrated and worried they all became, especially with the knowledge that Joe was hurt and in need of doctoring. That made the need to find him even more urgent.  
  
The family had talked to many citizens on the streets of Virginia City to see if they had seen Little Joe. Many of them had not and shook their heads when asked.  
  
A couple had agreed that they had seen him but they hadn't noticed that he was hurting at all or even that it was unusual for him to be wandering the streets alone when he should have been in school. They had not seen any need to keep track of what direction he had travelled in.  
  
Ben now thought back to the conversation that he and the rest of the family had had with Johnny Scott. Maybe he had to start facing the fact that maybe in his haze of pain and fright from what the teacher had done, Joe may have sought comfort and solace somewhere he felt he was safe. Somewhere like Dead Man's Canyon.  
  
The search party had now gathered back at the front of the jailhouse to determine what direction to take next. It was Ben who took charge of the situation.  
  
"Boys, Roy, Paul," he began, "I think we have to face the fact that Joe isn't in town anymore. I think we have to start putting things together to look further a field for Joe."  
  
"You mean like heading up to Dead Man's Canyon?" Hoss now asked his father.  
  
"Yes Hoss," Ben replied. "I don't know if he has gone there or not but he have to expand our search and we can't rule such an idea out at the moment. It's almost on sunset now. He probably doesn't have any supplies with him. He is alone, frightened, scared, hurt and probably not thinking very straight at the moment. We have to keep searching for him as long as it takes to bring him home safely."  
  
All of them nodded their heads in agreement at Ben's words knowing by now that the search for Joe must start becoming more determined in its efforts.  
  
"Adam, you arrange for some food and water supplies, Hoss you try and get some warm blankets and bed rolls together for us. I will get some medical supplies of you Paul and hopefully we can be on the trail very soon," Ben explained.  
  
"But how do we know what direction to head in Pa," Hoss asked honestly. Just because they thought Little Joe may have gone to Dead Man's Canyon didn't mean that he had. Maybe he had tried to make his way home.  
The search party now turned around at the sound of a voice shouting to them from behind. As they all turned, they could see Charlie, the man who ran the livery stable running up to them as fast as he could. They weren't quite able to make out what he was trying to say to them.  
  
"Slow down Charlie," Ben said as he stopped the man as he approached the group. "What's wrong?" he asked.  
  
"You been looking for that boy of yours Ben," the man said as he tried to regain his breath after running so hard. He could see the looks of fatigue of the group suddenly change to ones of hope and anticipation as he spoke.  
  
"Have you seen Little Joe Charlie?" Ben asked immediately. He could feel his heart thumping inside his chest at the thought that somebody might have some useful information about his missing child.  
  
"No I ain't seen him, just like I told Adam when he came by searching a while ago, but I just noticed that one of the horses is missing from the stable." Charlie explained.  
  
"Do you think Joe might have had something to do with taking the horse?" Adam now asked, not worried that his brother was stealing the animal but rather probably trying to find a method of finding his way home.  
  
"Well the horse that is missing Mr Cartwright is smaller in size than the other ones in the livery stable at the moment. If it was Joe that needed to take the horse, it might just be the clue you have been looking for." Charlie replied.  
  
"It still doesn't tell us which direction the boy might have travelled in," Roy Coffee now said as he tried to put himself in Joe's shoes. What would an injured and frightened boy on a strange horse do? Where would he go?  
  
"No Sheriff, but the horse's feet should tell us," Charlie said, and immediately saw the confused looks on those around him. "You see that horse got reshoed only this morning. And Mr Withers, his owner makes sure that I put particular shoes on that animal. They have a distinctive pattern gouged into the edges of the shoe that would make a pattern on the ground."  
  
"Hot Diggerty Charlie, that means once we find that particular pattern on the road, we can follow it to Little Joe," Hoss said with hope in his voice.  
  
"Let's get those supplies together boys and then meet at the livery stable in a few minutes and see if we can't find those horse shoe prints," Ben said finding it hard not to go racing to the stable right now. He knew that they needed to be prepared for the night ahead in case they didn't find Little Joe right away.  
  
About twenty minutes later, each of the Cartwright family had attended to his assigned task of water, food and bed rolls. Paul had given Ben a makeshift kit with bandages and some medicine. The doctor gave Ben careful instructions about what dose to give Joe in case they came across the boy and he needed attention before they could get him back to Virginia City.  
  
Sheriff Roy Coffee had already offered to join the Cartwright's in the search for the youngest member of the family. His deputy Clem would be adept at handling any problems that may arise in the town whilst they were gone.  
  
Paul Martin said that he would be waiting at his office when the search party returned and Joe was to be taken straight to him to have his wrist attended to. He didn't want to mention or add the prospect of any further injuries the young boy might incur.  
  
The party now moved back to the livery stable to see Charlie waiting for them. The stable keep had already been scowering the ground around the stable in search of the distinctive pattern.  
  
"I found one right away Ben, just outside the rear door. There should have been others but they seem to have been covered over by other horses in the mean time," Charlie said hoping the news would dash any hopes that the search party had built up for themselves.  
  
Hoss had walked away from the party for a few minutes, trying to look at the horse shoe prints on the ground. Trouble was that they all looked remarkably the same to him. He just had to find his little brother. He just had to he told himself.  
  
"Is this one Charlie?" Hoss suddenly shouted in triumph as he noted one set of prints quite a few metres from the livery stable. The print looked to have a funny squiggly mark along the edges of the shoe. Was it the distinct pattern that the stable keep had been talking about.  
  
Ben and the other quickly came running over to the area on the ground that Hoss was pointing to. It took a few seconds for them to see the differences in the pattern.  
  
"That's it my boy," Charlie said excitedly. "Reckon you could recognize it again Hoss?" he now asked.  
  
Hoss grabbed the reins of his horse and slowly walked with his mount behind him, trying to locate a second same print. It didn't take long to find one and then a third and fourth. His heart swelled as he thought they were finally on the right trail to finding the way Little Joe had gone in.  
  
Ben and the rest of the search party quickly mounted their horses and travelled behind Hoss. They noted the concentration on Hoss's face to follow the correct trail. A few times he seemed to loose sight of the right trail when other horse prints covered over the one he was looking for. But his patient nature paid out and he quickly was able to find another print again not too far ahead.  
  
Just as the sun gave the sky a orange hue across the horizon, signalling almost the end of the day, the search party walked slowly out of Virginia City following Hoss who was still walking a good deal of the way.  
  
After walking about a mile or so out of time, Joe's horse seem to be easier to spot without the competition from other prints. Hoss found even though he mounted his horse, he could still locate the right trail fairly easily and continue on their way at a slightly faster pace.  
  
*************************************************  
  
While Joe's family had been making the preparation to try and find him, the youngest member of the Cartwright family was still working his way towards Dead Man's Canyon.  
  
The night sky was now getting darker and darker and Joe was a little worried that the little chestnut horse may not be able to find his way through the shadows.  
  
By now the young boy had travelled about fifteen miles on the horse. He wasn't aware of the distance however. At first he had tried to talk to himself and the horse to keep himself awake. He told his horse all about his family and about his recent troubles with the teacher that found him travelling along this road.  
  
Tiredness, fatigue and pain however soon overcome Joe and he had fallen over the horse's neck in a restless doze for about the last two miles or so.  
  
Joe was quickly brought out of his doze by the sharp snap of a breaking stick awoke him. The horse was also startled at the noise and tried to shy away from whatever had made the sound.  
  
Joe had to use most of the waning strength he had left to say on the horse's back. There was no saddle to prevent him falling off the smooth coat and there was no reins to grip onto either. He cried out into the darkness in pain as his injured wrist was inadvertently used with his good hand to stop him falling off.  
  
The horse came to a halt at Joe's cry of pain and the boy now brought his tear-stained face up slightly to look at his surroundings. He had to let his eyes adjust to the darkness for a few seconds, but he could then make out the shapes of large rocks and a few large trees.  
  
Joe now down very gingerly from the horse, afraid his rubbery legs would betray him. He didn't think he had the strength to keep getting back onto his feet. He told himself and the little horse that he needed to rest of a few minutes. The other thing he needed right now was a drink of water. He was feeling slightly light headed at the moment and he felt a little hot despite the cool breeze ruffling his hair.  
  
Joe now began walking over to the large rocks he had seen a few moments ago. He beckoned for the horse to follow and was happy to see the soft nickers from the animal as the horse followed his smaller master.  
  
The area around the large rocks was slightly even darker due to the canopy of the trees. Joe could see a few twinkling stars in the sky above him but the moonlight that had given him a little light to travel over the last few miles was now hidden from sight.  
  
The cool breeze blew again and Joe shivered at the chill his body felt. His head felt hot still though. He was unaware that his injured hand had caused a slight fever to begin.  
  
Joe looked to his right and was delighted to see a small trickle of a stream very nearby. He walked unsteadily towards the water and knelt beside it, cupping his hands into the cool liquid and affording himself a drink of the thirst quenching wetness. The little horse had followed his rider to the stream and now bent his head down to take a drink as well.  
  
Once he had drank his fill, Joe sat down on the edge of the stream, trying to get his thoughts together. He didn't think his tiredness would allow him to ride any further tonight. Even though they hadn't travelled an excessively long way, he didn't want to put the little horse at risk of injury by riding by the moonlight.  
  
The only thing left to do until morning was to rest his weary head for a little while. It might stop the dizziness he felt and when the sun came up the next morning, he would be able to travel the rest of the way to Dead Man's Canyon in the daylight.  
  
Once there, hopefully he would be able to find some berries or fruit to eat and some fresh grass for the horse as well. For tonight his belly would have to be satisfied with the cool drink of water.  
  
Joe now got to his feet, his gait still unsteady as his legs begged for him to lay down and sleep for a while. He didn't have any blanket with him for warmth and he couldn't light a fire. It was going to be a rather cool night for him.  
  
Joe sat with his back resting against one of the large rocks. He used his right hand to gather a few dried leaves in a pile. That would have to suffice for a rough pillow tonight.  
  
Joe now swallowed slightly and wondered if his plan of waiting until his family was worried about him was such a good idea after all. He was cold, tired, hurt and hungry and his family was far away.  
  
The little chestnut horse now stood under the canopy of the trees as if a lookout for his young charge. He nickered softly at a few night-time sounds as an owl made his presence known in the tree above. There was also crickets chirping their nightly song.  
  
Joe now lay down wearily on the cold hard ground. After removing a few uncomfortable stones from underneath him, the young boy lay his head on the pillow of leaves.  
  
He briefly thought the ground might be a little softer at first, but the idea slowly fell away as his eyes grew incredibly heavy and he could no longer keep them open. His injured wrist tucked up closely to his body, the tissue around the bones now very swollen and bruised. A few grunts of pain and a few whimpers escaped the boy's lips as sleep stole him away.  
  
Over him, the stars still twinkled and the cool night air still blew into the trees. Joe's mind didn't note the cold or the pain, he was just too worn out. The boy's body began shivering slightly despite the fever that burned in his cheeks.  
  
From a little nook created by a few of the large rocks not too far away, Joe and the the little horse were unaware that they were being watched. The niche provided the perfect hiding place for the creature and it's scent was masked from the horse. Two bright eyes now watched the sleeping figure of the young boy.  
  
**************************************************************  
  
The progress of the search party had been slowed somewhat due to the same reason as Joe: the darkness. Even by the moonlight that was above, it was now almost impossible for Hoss to make out the horse prints on the roadway.  
  
Reluctantly, Ben suggested that they stop for the night and make a campfire. There was a few words of argument from his two sons about stopping the search for their lost brother. But when Ben had explained the risks to their horses being injured in the darkness if they continued, common sense prevailed in the end and they too agreed to stop for the night.  
  
While Hoss and Adam took the saddles off the horses and tethered them to nearby trees, Sheriff Roy Coffee and Ben cleared an area on the side of the road to make a fire. Once the flames were happily dancing in the cool breeze, they prepared to cook some food and make some coffee for everyone.  
  
The group now wore warmer coats against the coolness of the breeze. But as they felt the warmth of the folds of fabric of their coats and they tasted the food in their plates, they were reminded that Joe had so such luxuries with him. The boy had no food that they were aware of and no warm clothes against the night chill.  
  
Ben was found to be staring into the flames, deep in thought, whilst sipping at the hot cup of coffee in his hand.  
  
"Don't worry Ben, we'll find him quicker in the morning with the break of day," Roy said, trying to reassure his old friend. There wasn't much more he could say at a time when they all felt useless.  
  
"You know it's funny," Ben found himself saying to the group, "We were angry at the way that teacher Mr Watson treated Little Joe over the last couple of days. But you know we haven't treated him much different you know." he added, the words meant for his two sons rather than the Sheriff listening in.  
  
Together they might not have caused any physical scars on Little Joe, but what about the emotional ones. Ben had heard his little boy's hope of having someone to play with and still he put his own needs and those of the ranch in front of his youngest son.  
  
"Yeah I know what you mean Pa," Adam said as he looked guiltily into his own coffee that had grown cold. "I have made all the excuses in the world over the last few days of why I couldn't spend time with Little Joe. Now all I want to do is tell him how sorry I am and just find him safely and bring him home."  
  
"I could have played with him a little more too Adam," Hoss admitted.  
  
"In our own way, each of us has been pushing him away without even realising it," Ben now said as he tried to justify his time away from his family at the timber yard. Joe knew that there was a great deal of work to be done on a ranch, but somehow his simplest of needs such as companionship and someone to be there for him when he needed it were put aside.  
  
"Forgive me Marie my love. I will bring him home, I promise." Ben said to himself. When he found his little lost boy tomorrow and took him home to his own bed, he vowed he would find more time to spend with all of his boys .  
  
The search party all turned into their bedrolls early, knowing that they wanted to make an early start as soon as the sun was visible in the sky in the morning.  
  
******************************************  
  
OKAY TO BE CONTINUED .... But I promise not very much more and it's all finished .... now your wondering what the critter is in the rocks is ?????????  
  
I have already started the last section and am quite a way through it for you.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing please and thanks to everybody that already has. I really appreciate all the wonderful comments about people liking the story so far. Helps me to write better next time.  
  
JULES 


	8. CHAPTER 8

DEAD MAN'S CANYON - FINAL PART  
  
Despite his overwhelming sense of fatigue, Little Joe's sleep was not a peaceful one that night. The cold seemed to seep deep within him until he could scarcely stop from shivering. The only heat present was that from the fever that still burned within him.  
  
By dawn's early light, Joe opened slightly glazed eyes to greet the day. He was feeling incredibly light headed from lack of food and sleep. The pain in his hand had dulled to a constant throb but as the boy gazed down at the injury itself, he truly began worried.  
  
The skin was now grotesquely swollen and the bruising more prominent in the early sunshine, varying from dark black and purple to a motley shade of gray where the skin was least discoloured. Joe gathered all the strength he could muster and walked slowly down to the small waterhole he had taken a drink from the night before.  
  
Luckily for him, the water was icy cold due to the over night chill. He winced slightly as he placed the injured limb in the frigid water and almost made a move to pull his hand back out again.  
  
But Joe was truly afraid of his hand's appearance and was worried what sought of damage had been done to his hand. He was a little frightened that the doctor wouldn't be able to fix it properly and he might lose some permanent use of his left hand.  
  
Joe looked up from his submerged hand when the chestnut horse made a soft noise as if gesturing good morning to his young master. Although the night had been cold for both animal and human, the horse seemed to have come through it better. He showed very little sign of any distress from the previous night and now nibbled at some green grass shoots underneath the tree he stood beside.  
  
It was only now that there was a movement amongst the rocks over yonder that the horse now made noises towards the pair of eyes it could see peering back at it. At first the eyes made the horse take a few steps backwards as if ready to flee, but it was only as the creature started to stir further and moved forward that the horse determined he was of no real threat.  
  
Joe looked towards where the horse keep it's attention and noted a small animal coming out from the niche in the rocks. It took a few seconds to recognize the animal as a cat of some kind.  
  
A few more seconds and Joe was able to tell that it was a mountain lion cub. A very young one, possibly only three or four months old at the most and that's why the horse had decided that the cub's size was of no real threat.  
Joe's dull, bloodshot eyes lit up slightly at the small fuzzy animal and he held out his right hand and made slightly clicking noises with his tongue and teeth, gesturing for the cub to come forward.  
  
At first the cub took a couple of steps backwards, a bit wary of the human boy's presence. It was now on closer observation that Joe was able to see that the cub was injured.  
  
Instead of having a normal inquisitive like tail that didn't stay still, this little cub only had about a foot long stump of a tail. There was dried blood on the end signalling that the injury was only very recent.  
  
Joe beckoned for the cub to come closer again and this time after hesitating and almost taking a step back, the mountain lion put the foot in front of him and moved closer to the smaller human.  
  
The cub was finally close enough for Joe to reach out with his uninjured right hand and place it on the soft fur of the cub's back. The cub made a small mewing sound at the strange touch.  
  
Joe now began to stroke the little cub's back in an attempt to gain it's trust. The cat began to relax and enjoy the boy's hand through his fur. Joe now pulled the cat's small furry body onto his lap and continued the stroking action, finding it therapeutic for both the cat and himself.  
  
The cat's fur felt so soft under his fingertips Joe said inwardly to himself. The little cub began making slight purring noises as it lapped up the attention it was being afforded.  
  
As the trust between animal and human grew, Joe's hand moved from the cub's back to the top of his head and down his front legs. Joe was careful to avoid the injured tail, knowing that it might be still hurting the cub. There were no flies around the wound due to the coolness of the morning, but he could still see the dried blood and pieces of torn skin surrounding the stump.  
  
"I think you should be called Half Tail Joe whispered to the cub. But the cub didn't hear the words spoken as its eyes began closing and the small body began fully relaxing at the boy's touch.  
  
After a few minutes, Joe realised that the cub was asleep. He gently moved the cub from his lap and placed it on top of the pile of leaves he had used as a pillow the night before.  
  
Joe now looked over towards the horse he had ridden and noted that it was happily munching away at some grass it had found not too far away. "Well at least one us is getting breakfast this morning," Joe said grimly as his stomach grumbled loudly at it's emptiness.  
Joe decided to sit back against the large rock while he waited patiently waited for the horse to eat his fill. He was in no particular rush to get going this morning even though he had had definite plans the night before. He began wondering whether he should turn back despite the trouble he would find himself in.  
  
The pain in his wrist flared again, only adding to these feelings. At least if he went home he could sleep in a nice soft warm bed. The nice soft bed may be even more inviting if he got the tanning he almost expected off his father when he did get home.  
  
Looking down at the little mountain lion cub, Joe's attention was drawn away from his own pain and loneliness to the cub's injured tail. It really did look as if it needed some attention to stop it from getting infected. He didn't have any supplies with him to use, but the water in the stream had been nice and cold when he had submerged his own hand.  
  
Joe now slowly got to his feet, the weariness and heat his body felt still very evident as he used the rock briefly to steady himself. Joe now tore a piece of cloth from the right sleeve of his shirt and dipped it into the cold water. He wrung out the excess moisture and walked back to where the little cub was peacefully sleeping.  
  
Joe knelt beside the little furry ball and gently placed the damp cloth on the bloodied stump of what was left of the cat's tail. He was unprepared for the reaction he was about to receive.  
  
Without warning, the little cub suddenly came awake with a start at the pain that the cold, wet fabric caused to his tail. He used the only instincts he knew and lashed out with his claws at the source of the discomfort. The cub had yet to grow any adult claws, but the ones he had were sufficiently sharp to slice easily through the young skin of the boy's arm.  
  
Joe yelped out with fright as he attempted to jump back from the agitated cub. He felt something warm and sticky on his arm and now saw three long gashes down his upper arm where his shirt had been torn.  
  
Joe dropped the piece of sleeve he had been using on the cub and attempted to pick it up with his injured left wrist. He was going to use the other end of it to stop the blood coming from the claw marks but stopped up short at the sudden wave of pain that he caused my moving the injured wrist.  
  
Joe looked up slight, his damp curls falling over his forehead due to his fever, to where the cub was now sitting. The cub had moved quite a few feet away from the boy but had briefly stopped and sniffed at stump of his tail. He now looked back at the human who had caused the pain.  
  
As the brown eyes of the cub met and locked with the glassy green ones of the boy, there was a look of understanding between the two. The boy didn't speak and the cat didn't make any noise. There was no further physical contact between them, but somehow both of them felt a distant connection with each other.  
  
With that the cub turned and ran back into niche it had been hiding in the night before.  
  
***********************************************  
  
The little chestnut horse that Joe had been riding, now walked over towards his young master who was still kneeling on the ground, gritting his teeth at the pain through his wrist and the dull ache from the scratches on his arm.  
  
Joe's head was hurting from the headache he had caused by the fever that was present. And whilst his forehead felt hot to the touch, the rest of him felt incredibly chilled still.  
  
Joe now started to realise that all of the symptoms he was feeling was due to his injuries. It was about now that Joe made the decision he should mount the horse and try heading back to Virginia City and his family.  
  
The little horse wasn't standing too far away from Little Joe and when it recognized, the gestures from the boy's hand, it obediently walked towards him. Joe was grateful that he didn't have to walk any sort of distance to get to the horse. At the moment, the world was very hazy to him indeed and he found himself leaning against the wide berth of the horse's rump just to stay on his feet.  
  
Joe used a similar method to mount the horse as he had used at the livery stable, with three fingers inter-twined in the horse's mane to gain the steadiness he needed. But as soon as he was on the animal's back, the boy found that from this height, the world only seemed to spin more.  
  
Little Joe put his right hand to his temple and tried to massage the throbbing away with his fingers. With a gentle nudge with his feet, the horse began to walk forward, back through the trees that they had passed the night before. Joe watched through glassy eyes to make sure the horse was headed back towards the town, his strength was quickly waning and he hoped that he reached the town and his family very soon.  
  
a few miles away:  
  
Ben and the search party had not had much sleep the night before but where determined to get started at first light. They had forgone breakfast to save time and only had last night's brewed black coffee to fill their bellies as they mounted their saddled horses and headed out once again in search of Little Joe.  
  
They had only gone about ten miles past their campsite when they spotted a lone horse standing alone the long, quite a way in front of them. There didn't appear to be a rider at first, but then upon second glance, it looked as though there was. The rider however, looked to be laying over the horse's neck rather than sitting upright in the saddle.  
Ben's heart filled with anxiety and anticipation that this might be his son they were looking for. If it was truly Little Joe and his horse, Ben's worry now only doubled at the sight of the motionless rider. Ben now spurred Buck into a full gallop to get closer to the horse in front of the search party.  
  
Adam, Hoss and Roy had quickly followed Ben as they saw him race towards the inert rider and mount. It looked so out of place to see a horse just standing there on the roadway, in the middle of nowhere.  
  
"Joseph," Ben shouted as he jumped off his horse before it had barely pulled up beside the chestnut one. He could see the curly head slumped over the horse's neck did indeed belong to his missing boy. He was alarmed even more though when there was no response to his call or his shouting.  
  
Ben was now close enough to reach out for his son and immediately felt the warm radiating from the small body. Adam and Hoss were now standing beside their father, both equally concerned by the lack of response from their younger brother.  
  
"Joseph can you hear me boy?" Ben asked, almost pleading with the boy to open his eyes. "Oh boy, what has he done to you?" he added when he saw the streaks of dried blood down the boy's right arm and the torn sleeve of his shirt.  
  
Ben tried to gentle awaken his injured son again and was rewarded by the curly head lifting slightly and looking back at him with dull, glassy green eyes. "Hi Pa," Joe managed to croak, the effort almost too much for him.  
  
"He didn't mean to do it Pa," Joe now said, meaning the cat's scratches to his arm. He didn't want Ben to get angry at the little mountain lion cub. The cub had only been doing what came naturally to it when it felt threatened or hurt.  
  
Ben looked back at the boy with astonishment at first. He thought the boy meant Mr Watson the teacher. But before he could ask another question, Joe's strength finally came to an abrupt end and he gasped out loud as Joe all but tumbled out of the saddle and into his father's arms. Ben had scarcely recovered enough to catch his son as he fell.  
  
"Quick boys, give me a blanket to wrap him in," Ben cried out as he looked down at his son's unconscious face. He could see beads of sweat forming on the boy's forehead from the fever that was present, but he could feel the trembling from the rest of his body, signalling he may have caught a chill from the overnight temperature.  
  
Hoss quickly untied his bedroll and tossed Ben his warm blanket to wrap around Joe's body. "Is he alright Pa?" he now asked, knowing it was a silly question before the words left his lips. He could see the blood on his brother's arm and noted the fever glazed eyes before he had fainted.  
Adam was also worried about his brother's condition, but his attention was drawn to the injured wrist that was now very discoloured and swollen. He swallowed hard to think that they may have been too late in finding Joe before further injury was caused to his hand. Would he ever be able to write with it again, left- handed or not Adam found asking himself secretly.  
  
"Here Pa, try and get some water into him," Adam suggested, noting that there was no canteen tied to the chestnut horse. He wondered how long Joe had been without food and water. Probably most of the night and certainly since he left Virginia City he reasoned.  
  
Ben took the canteen from his eldest son and whilst Hoss helped to hold Joe, gentle trickled the water over the boy's lips and into his mouth. Only small amounts at first due to the boy's unconscious state. He didn't want him choking. That would only sap his already depleted strength.  
  
Thankfully, the group could see Joe's throat working slowly to swallow the water. Ben stopped the process when he was satisfied that Joe had enough in him to see him through to Virginia City. It was only a relatively short distance, but Joe was obviously in need of urgent attention.  
  
"I'll ride back as fast as I can and tell Paul to get ready Ben," Sheriff Roy Coffee now offered and spurred his horse into a gallop towards Virginia City at Ben's slight nod of gratitude.  
  
Hoss held his brother for Ben while his father mounted, then making sure that his sons was safely secured on the saddle in front of him, tucked the blanket tails around Joe to keep him warm for the remainder of the ride into town.  
  
The trio of horses now rode as quickly as Ben dared to Virginia City. Joe's small sleeping form was almost invisible as he laid against his father's embrace and under the cloak of the blanket. The whole family just prayed that the boy would be okay once they got him back to Paul.  
  
*************************************************  
  
The time was approximately 10 am that morning, when Ben and his boys rode down the street of Virginia City towards the doctor's office. The ride though only a short distance in miles, had been a very long one for Ben's heart to bear knowing that his son was sick and hurt.  
  
"Here they come," Roy Coffee shouted to Paul, who quickly strode out of his office and stood on the edge of the wooden decking.  
  
Ben pulled up along side of the hitching rail in front of the doctor's office. Adam got of his own mount and now tied both horses to the railing.  
  
"He hasn't moved at all since we started riding back here Paul," Ben found himself explaining to the doctor as Adam now took his unconscious brother from Ben's horse and began carrying through to the doctor's office.  
  
"Lay him down here Adam," Paul said quickly, forgetting all about idle conversation and concentrating on the condition of the patient in front of him.  
  
Adam did as he was requested, he too alarmed at the amount of heat he could feel through the blanket. The shivering Ben had felt earlier had now been entirely consumed by the fever in Joe and he wasn't quite sure whether that was a positive sign or not.  
  
"Has he been conscious at all Ben?" Paul asked.  
  
"Only for a few seconds back when we first found him doctor. It took a few attempts to get him to rouse. We found him slumped over the horse's neck. I am not sure how long he and the horse had been standing there before we arrived." Ben explained.  
  
"Did he seem to recognize you at all?" Paul enquired.  
  
"Yes Paul he did, you won't believe it but he asked me 'Not to be angry at him' Ben said as he repeated the few brief words Joe had spoken. "That's all he said and then collapsed and fainted into my arms."  
  
"Don't worry Ben, we will fix him up, you'll see," Paul said, trying to reassure his friend. He could see that Ben was almost beside himself with guilt and worry over Joe's condition. "Hoss and Adam why don't you see if you can get something to eat and then wait outside while your father and I attend to Joe."  
  
Hoss and Adam were about to object, wanting to be there to help out as much as possible. "And get something for your father as well, he looks as though he could use it too," Paul said as he saw the lines of tiredness around Ben's eyes.  
  
Hoss and Adam reluctantly agreed, for their father's sake. Because like them, they knew all too well that Ben would even consider taking time for himself before Joe was better again. They now left to go to the hotel and get some meals ordered up for themselves and their father.  
  
For the next half an hour, as Adam and Hoss waited impatiently outside for news of how their brother Joe was doing: Inside Ben and Paul worked together as a team to assess the injuries of the little boy and make him as comfortable as they could.  
  
"These gashes here were made by an animal Ben," Paul said as he expertly examined the claw marks the mountain lion cub had made on Joe's arm. "They are not very deep fortunately, but they need cleaning out thoroughly all the same to avoid infection. Animals bites and scratches can be quite nasty if they are not treated quickly."  
  
"It makes my blood run cold to think that Joe was out there all alone Paul and was anywhere that he could have come across a wild animal," Ben said as he gently used a ball of cotton wool in a solution the doctor had prepared to clean the scratches.  
  
"It's not your fault Ben," Paul said, trying gently to admonish his friend and get him to let go of the guilt he was holding onto with an iron grip. "That teacher has a lot to answer for as far as I am concerned. We are just lucky that you found Joe so quickly."  
  
While Ben went about cleaning out the scratches on Joe's arm, Paul now could go about taking a look at the boy's wrist. It obviously needed the most attention and was more than likely the cause of Joe's fever.  
  
Paul noticed that the wrist itself was still protectively held against Joe's chest, even in sleep. He looked quite concerned at the amount of discolouration and swelling, but didn't voice his opinion out loud. He used his finger and thumb to try and carefully pry it out in the open so he could take a closer look.  
  
But even that slight movement caused Joe to release a moan at the pain that resulted. He started to turn his head from side to side as it rested on the pillow and attempted to pull his injured wrist away from the doctor's probing touch.  
  
"It's alright son," Ben cooed to his son as he brushed the damp curls away from his forehead, trying to help him cope with the pain but allow the doctor to do his job.  
  
"No don't!," Joe said in his fevered sleep as Paul attempted to examine his wrist again. "You can't do this." he said caught somewhere between reality and his subconscious about what Mr Watson had done.  
  
"I need to examine this wrist Ben," Paul said in a serious tone of voice but understanding that Joe called out because he was in pain. "I will give him a light sedative which should give him a break from the pain and allow me to set in while he sleeps. When he wakes it should be splinted and bandaged and the pain should not be so bad."  
  
Ben nodded his head in agreement to the medication being administered to his son and watched as Paul prepared a small amount of clear liquid in a syringe. He gently held his boy's right arm still as the doctor inserted the needle and injected the fluid into Joe.  
  
It didn't take long for the medicine to work and although Joe never opened his eyes, his slight struggles ceased all together and his head lolled to one side on the pillow, signalling he had fallen asleep. It almost brought tears to Ben's eyes that he had to adopt harsh methods against his son because of the abuse and cruelty of others.  
  
With his patient now sleeping soundly and oblivious to any examination, Paul now got on with the examination of the injured wrist. He still took every care to be as gentle as possible although he knew that Joe wouldn't be able to feel very much.  
  
"It is definitely broken Ben, that's why there's so much swelling and discolouration to the skin," Paul now commented as he continued his doctoring. "It looks as though it has lost some of the inflammation around the bone. That's a good sign because it means that the break may only be a small one."  
  
"Will you need to splint it?" Ben asked, remembering the general cause of remedy for a broken bone.  
  
"Yes, and with a boy Joe's age that's the best thing to do. He may feel a little poorly now, but knowing this young man, once he is beginning to recover, he is undoubtedly going to knock his hand around by just doing general day to day activities," Paul stated in earnest.  
  
A little while later, Adam and Hoss could no longer stand to just stand outside and wait for news of how Little Joe was doing. Adam silently turned the door knob and pushed the door open slightly to gaze in and watch what their father and the doctor were doing.  
  
"What are you two doing in here?" Ben asked in mock sternness. Paul could see the worried looks on two older boy's faces and didn't have the heart to send them back out of the room.  
  
"We were just wondering how he was doing Pa," Adam said for the both of them. Hoss's eyes were wide with concerned as he saw the amount of bandaging around his little brother's hand. He seemed so still. Not the little brother he was used to.  
  
As Ben looked down at his youngest son, Joe appeared to be still sleeping very soundly so he saw no reason that Adam and Hoss couldn't see how their brother was doing, so long as they remained quiet and didn't disturb him.  
  
"He's doing okay boys," Paul answered for Ben. "He needs a lot of rest and care over the next few days. But he will okay after a while."  
  
"What about this fever Paul? Is that anything to be overly worried about?" Ben now asked as he felt his son's forehead and noted the fever still holding on.  
  
"It's probably a little higher than it should be for such an injury Ben, but given that he has spent a very cold night out on his own with no food and little water, it's not out of the question. I think he is suffering from a little bit of exposure to the elements but after a day or so the fever should be sufficiently lower if not gone altogether." Paul said.  
  
"Will he have to stay in town tonight doctor?" Hoss now asked. He didn't like the idea of his little brother having to stay in the doctor's office. Hoss wanted him back home in his own warm bed where the rest of the family was.  
  
Paul looked briefly at Ben and winked slightly before giving his reply, "Well Hoss, normally I would say yes he would have to stay here. He is still a quite sick little boy. But given the amount of stress that he has been under the last couple of days, I think a strange environment such as this office or even the hotel would be unjust." "What he should have is his own bed with lots of good food and rest. But there will have to be somebody watching over him, maybe more than one," Paul suggested with a grin and a sparkle in his eye.  
  
"Oh me doc, me," Hoss declared with excitement. He wouldn't have thought of anything more he would like to do than to take care of Little Joe when he was sick and hurt. He was sure that big brother Adam would be there to help out too and Pa.  
  
Adam smiled at his larger younger brother and then at the doctor and his father. He knew that the doctor was trying his best to cheer Hoss up as well as the rest of the family about taking care of Joe. Hoss was well known for his care of injured and sick animals.  
  
Adam was sure that Hoss's care for Little Joe would benefit both Hoss and Joe. And he knew that if he and Hoss helped out, then their father would have an excuse to get some rest of his own and take care of himself too.  
  
"Adam you go down to Charlie at the livery stable and tell him that we found Joe okay and to pass the word around. After that can you organize to get a wagon from him to take your brother home," Ben now instructed.  
  
"Hoss I want you to go and collect Joe's horse from the school and bring it back here. We can pull him along with the other horses as well," Ben continued. "While you two are doing that, the doctor and I will finish up here and get your brother ready to go home."  
  
Adam and Hoss just smiled at each other and then went to do exactly what was asked of them. They were both bursting with happiness that Joe was going to be alright and home very soon. This day was certainly turning out to be a happier one than yesterday had been.  
  
After Adam and Hoss had gone to do their assigned tasks, Paul concentrated on making sure the splints around Joe's wrists were in place correctly and the bandaging around them tight enough to prevent movement of any kind.  
  
The doctor then wrapped a light bandage around the scratches that Ben had cleaned. He gave Ben a small bottle of the solution he had prepared and instructed Ben to use it twice a day to continue cleaning out the scratches on a daily basis.  
  
"I will give you some powders for any pain Joe might have over the next day or so Ben, but after the swelling goes down on that wrist, I think he should be fine. Give him only a small dose and see if that helps. I have also given you two sleeping powders, just in case the trauma of what has happened starts making him have bad dreams or sleepless nights. He really does have to rely on rest to get him back on his feet now. It is the best medicine I can prescribe other then a great deal of love and understanding over the next few weeks," Paul said to Ben.  
"How much of an effect do you think this whole teacher thing will have on him Paul?" Ben asked honestly. Apart from the physical injuries he had been asked to endure, Joe had been humiliated in front of his class mates and made to feel an outcast. He wanted to know how long before he got his Little Joe back again.  
  
"I can't answer you that right now Ben," Paul replied truthfully. "Only time will tell how he handles the memories and flashbacks. He may be jumpy around people at first, particularly strangers, so try and limit the number of visitors until he is fully recovered. Just try and include him in the normal everyday activities of the household and I think he should bounce back fine."  
  
"I will come out to check on his wrist late tomorrow Ben," Paul said as Adam and Hoss arrived back at his office, informing their father that the wagon was ready. "I think he will sleep most of today and tomorrow anyway. You might want to try and get some food into him once you get him home. The roughness of the wagon might be enough to wake him gently once he is in his own bed. Just a bowl of meaty broth or something light but filling at the moment. He can have something more substantial once he has had a good sleep."  
  
"Thank you for everything Paul, truly," Ben with meaning in the words. Lord knew that this family had come to rely on the good doctor's services and advice more and more all the time lately.  
  
Ben now very gently lifted his deeply sleeping youngster from the treatment table and carried him close to his chest. At the moment he felt as if he never wanted to let his boy out of his sight again. He had felt so guilty about what had happened to Joe over the last few days and now had everything to be genuinely thankful for.  
  
"You just get that boy home and show him how much he is loved Ben," Paul answered. "That's all I ask in return," he added. Sometimes being all alone had it benefits. He had always been made feel welcome and part of the Cartwright family. He hoped that tradition continued for a good many years to come.  
  
************************************  
  
On the journey towards the Ponderosa, Ben had used his hat as much as possible to shade Joe's face from the harsh sunlight that prevailed. It was now just after 1pm and the sun was right over head as they made their way back to the ranch.  
  
Adam had driven the wagon team with Hoss opting to ride beside the wagon on his own mount. From time to time he would look back into the wagon to make sure his brother was doing okay. Ben saw his son's attempts and would gesture with his hand to let Hoss know that everything was just fine.  
  
When they got to the ranch itself, Hop Sing came out at the sound of the wagon pulling up out front. He had heard the conversation between the Cartwrights, Mr Scott and Joe's friend Johnny. When the family hadn't returned that night, the little oriental man had lain awake much like the rest of the family out of worry for them all.  
  
"Hop Sing will you get Joe's room ready for me please," Ben asked as he got down from the wagon and immediately went to lift his son out.  
  
"Room already Mr Cartwright," Hop Sing said with a smile. He had made sure  
  
that the boy's room was already prepared yesterday after they left for the school. He also had a pot of broth already heating on the stove. If it had turned out that it wasn't needed then so be it, but Hop Sing knew from experience that it wouldn't go to waste.  
  
"Thank you Hop Sing," Ben said, returning the smile. He didn't know what he would do without the little helper at times. Hop Sing was more than just their house keeper and cook. He too was a member of the Cartwright family.  
  
Ben now walked through the front door as Adam opened it and made his way up the stairs towards Joe's bedroom. Making sure that he didn't jostle the boy too much. He hadn't come fully awake yet after the Doctor's medication, but like Paul assumed, the ride in the wagon saw him open his eyes a few times just before they pulled up in the front yard.  
  
Ben laid Joe down onto the bed and then went about removing the boy's shoes. After he unwrapped his son from the blankets, he removed what was left of his torn shirt and threw it towards the door to be discarded later.  
  
Hoss had gotten a bowl of cold water from Hop Sing after his father and Adam had taken Joe upstairs. He also had a cloth and now, as the other went about making Joe more comfortable in the bed, in between their fussing, Hoss tried his best to help out by wiping Joe's still warm forehead with the damp cloth.  
  
The coolness of the cloth seemed to revive Joe just that little bit more and he now moaned audibly for everyone to hear as he moved about slightly on the bed and tried to become with his surroundings.  
  
Once Joe was dressed in a clean night shirt and his wrist was elevated on two pillows beside him, Adam helped prop him up into a sitting position. Ben took the bowl of just warm broth from Hop Sing and tried to get his son to each some before he got too tired again.  
  
Ben only managed to get about half a dozen spoonfuls across Joe's lips before the boy's head bowed, signalling that he was asleep again. He had only opened his eyes to slits the whole time and made no attempt to talk to his family during that short period of half wakefulness.  
  
At least they had gotten some nourishment into him Ben conceded. They could try again when the boy was more awake and alert. For now his stomach was satisfied and Joe seemed content enough just to sleep and regain his strength.  
  
"Joe, are you okay?" Hoss asked, not able to keep from asking the question. He knew that getting his brother to talk might be too taxing for him right now. But he still needed to know for his own peace of mind. His father hadn't voiced any objections to his asking and neither had Adam.  
  
"Fine Hoss, just a little tired is all," came the mumbled reply. "Didn't get my homework done yet Hoss, sorry," he added. "Will do it in the morning before school, promise. Don't tell Pa on me yet," the boy said just as sleep stole him once again.  
  
Ben couldn't help but grin at the boy's incoherent speech. Obviously Joe had no idea of where he was at the moment and what had happened earlier in the day. He certainly didn't remember that it was school holidays tomorrow and that there wouldn't be any homework for a few weeks at least.  
  
"Don't worry Hoss, it's just all the medicine working in him that makes him sound a little confused," Adam now said to Hoss. Hoss however hadn't even heard much of what his brother had said. He was just happy to have him home again in his own bed and be with his family who loved him. Starting tomorrow, Hoss made a solemn vow to show Joe just how much he meant that and make time to be with him.  
  
For the rest of the day, Joe was left to rest as much as possible just like the doctor ordered. Hoss had offered to spend the first few hours with his brother and try and cool him down slightly.  
  
Adam and Ben had agreed mostly due to them seeing the desire and need for Hoss to get over his selfishness and guilt. They too would have to do that themselves but they could do the late and early morning hours while Hoss slept.  
  
**********************************************  
  
By dawn's early light the next day, Adam was dozing in a chair beside his brother's bed after relieving his father some hours ago.  
  
Joe had remained asleep throughout the night and with the constant application of cool compresses to his forehead, his fever was now almost gone completely. His forehead only slightly warm to the touch and part of that was probably due to his cocoon of blankets during the night.  
  
Joe opened his eyes slowly and tried to focus his mind on where he was. He turned his head slightly and now could make out the familiar looking furniture and ornaments that decorated his own bedroom. He could scarcely hold back the gasp of relief that he felt once he realised where he was.  
  
He looked over at the figure beside him and noted Adam sleeping in the uncomfortable chair. His brother looked as though he had been there for quite some time and would wake up with a sore back and neck no doubt.  
  
To get a better look around without waking his brother, Joe now attempted to pull himself up into a sitting position. When he had first awoken, he had momentarily forgotten about his wrist or the scratches on his right arm.  
  
Unfortunately he had mistakenly tried to put his weight instinctively on his left arm as was normal for him. But he bit his lip and couldn't hold back the cry of pain that he emitted when the wrist collapsed underneath him and fell back against the pillows.  
  
Adam was startled awake by the cry of pain from his brother. He immediately tried to put a restraining gentle hand on his brother to stop him from attempting to get up any further. Joe was holding onto his bandaged arm with his eyes squeezed shut and a few tears were now trailing down his cheeks.  
  
"Joe, are you alright buddy?" Adam asked softly with fresh concern over his brother. They hadn't quite counted on the fresh pain that Joe would feel first thing this morning when he awoke from his long sleep. The medication that Doc Martin had given him had long since worn off.  
  
"Yeah," Joe said shakily as he tried to put the pain out of his mind. It was very hard to do so though and he could help but wince quite a few more times as Adam helped to prop him up higher in the bed again.  
  
Hoss now appeared at Joe's bedroom door, drawn in by the sound of his pain. He repeated the same question as Adam, "You okay Little Joe?" he asked as he sat on the other side of Joe's bed.  
  
"Thanks Hoss, yeah I will be okay," Joe replied, but his face showed a very different truth. Even after a long sleep, Joe's eyes were still blood shot and his face still drawn at the mouth and eyes in tiredness.  
  
"How about I get you some breakfast Joe?" Hoss now offered, sensing his own need for food but putting Joe first this morning.  
  
"Maybe a little," Joe admitted, as his stomach grumbled slightly at the mention of food. "Thanks Hoss," he added and gave an award winning smile that sent Hoss's heart into cartwheels. Hoss was so happy that his brother was a getting better. He could scarcely hold all the happiness inside. Hoss now went downstairs to get Joe's breakfast.  
  
"How else are you feeling Joe?" Adam now asked, knowing that the wrist was already brothering him. He waited patiently for Joe to take check of all of his hurts before answering.  
  
"Arm hurts some where that cat scratched me," Joe now said in a uninterested tone of voice. "But the rest of me feels okay. Just a little tired still." he admitted.  
  
"What cat scratched you?" Adam asked now in confusion. It was the first time he had heard anything about any animal being near Joe yesterday.  
"Well while I was camped out near those rocks a little mountain lion cub came out. He had had his tail partly chopped off, that's why I called him "Half-tail" Joe explained as he spoke all in a rush. "I tried to clean the area up with a piece of my shirt, but he got a bit frightened and that's when he scratched me. He didn't mean to. He was just hurt. Anyway he ran off into the rocks again and I haven't seen him again."  
  
Adam tried to take in everything that his brother was telling him. At least now they had a plausible explanation for the torn shirt sleeve and the scratches on his arm. Somewhere in Joe's story there was the whole reason behind it all. Joe just spoke too fast for Adam to fully understand what had happened out there while he was all alone.  
  
Hoss now walked back into the room, holding a tray of freshly made toast, a boiled egg and a glass of orange juice. He placed it in front of Joe and waited to see if his brother approved of the morning menu.  
  
Joe gave his thanks in return and to show his appreciation, started eating what was on the tray. Whilst he was eating, Adam reiterated to Hoss, the parts of Joe's story that he had understood.  
  
Hoss's worry had turned into envy when Adam told about Joe's encounter with the young mountain lion cub.  
  
"Well Good Morning all of you," came a voice from the bedroom door. Everyone turned their gaze towards the source and found Ben smiling back at them. The sight of his three son's sitting around enjoying each other's company for the first time in weeks was one to behold indeed.  
  
"And how are you young man?" Ben asked his youngest as he walked over to Joe. He was grateful to see that Hoss and Adam had been taking extra care of their brother and that they had already seen to his breakfast needs.  
  
"Fine Pa," Joe said quietly before putting another piece of toast in his mouth.  
  
Adam once again found himself telling Ben about Joe's encounter with the mountain lion and how he had gotten the scratches on his arm. Ben then informed Adam what the doctor had said the day before about keeping them extra clean and bandaged for the next few days.  
  
Ben was about to motion for some time alone with his youngest son when Hop Sing appeared at the door. "Sheriff Coffee need to see you downstairs Mr Cartwright."  
  
"Thank you Hop Sing," Ben replied. "Joe I will be back to talk to you in a minute, I promise." He briefly even contemplated whether he should talk to Joe first and ask the Sheriff to wait or come back later. Especially seeing the promise he had made to himself about spending more time with the boys and putting them first from now on.  
Upon consideration though, Roy didn't come out to the ranch very often just for a social call. He had better see what it was all about. Then he could spend some quality time with Joseph without being interrupted.  
  
"Good Morning Roy," Ben greeted the lawman, stepping aside from the door to let him in. "What brings you out here this early in the morning?"  
  
"Sorry to disturb you so soon again Ben, I know Joe only just came home from the doc's yesterday," Roy said, playing with the brim of his hat out of nervousness of the news he had come to deliver.  
  
Ben could see that Roy was having a difficult time getting out whatever was on his mind. "Okay Roy, out with it, what's got you all tongue tied?" Ben asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"Well Ben, I know you got your hands full getting Little Joe better at the moment, but I thought you might like to know.....," he started to say, leaving the question unfinished.  
  
"Like to know what?" Ben asked good naturedly. Something inside told him that whatever it was, it couldn't be particularly good news. But Roy was only the messenger, not the source.  
  
"The judge spoke to me about that teacher Mr Watson this morning," Roy said, leaving it for Ben to digest that part of the conversation first. "He said that even though he assault Little Joe, he didn't think it was very likely that the man would get any real jail time for it," Roy now continued. He could see the look on Ben's face change a dozens times during that sentence. A dozen different emotions, but only one outcome: anger and disappointment.  
  
"He's not going to let him get away scott-free is he?" Ben said, trying to keep his temper in check like had taught his sons. He didn't even want to think that all the pain and anguish that Little Joe had gone through was for nothing.  
  
"No Ben, he will get some hefty fines for his deeds and probably ordered to do a good deal of community work when he gets back home," Roy said, indicating that the man would go free.  
  
"He's letting the man go back to his former life?" Ben said as he felt the outrage pouring out of him but not willing to put the feelings into words or actions. "Doesn't he realise that the man will only go back teaching the way he has to Joseph's class?"  
  
"Yes, and the judge said that he would do everything he could to see that the man didn't teach again anywhere. But he also said that in reality that was totally out of his jurisdiction and he doubted be could get the school board to just sack the man. There are a lot of other teachers in the system that victimise their students for various reasons including left-handedness." Roy said as he gave the judge's speech.  
"I am more sorry than I can say Ben, I really am," Roy stammered, not really not knowing what else to say that would make the situation more just for the family.  
  
"Thanks Roy, I appreciate you coming all the way out here to tell us," Ben said knowing that it wasn't the lawman's fault. It was supposed to be called a justice system but right now that sense of "justice" seemed a long way off.  
  
"How is Joe Ben?" Roy asked, genuinely concerned for the boy. He had seen the sick state they had found him in earlier on the road out of Virginia City.  
  
"Well he's awake a few hours earlier than the doctor said he would be Roy,"  
  
Ben replied, thankful for the change of topic. "I don't think that will last long though. I was just about to talk to him about what happened when you knocked on the door."  
  
"I will let you get back to him then Ben. Sure glad he is going to be okay. Tell him I said hello for me and hope he gets well real soon," Roy said as he went towards the door and bid Ben good day.  
  
Although he wasn't happy with the outcome, he didn't want to keep his son waiting any longer. They would just have to deal with the outcome of the teacher's fate as time went by. For now he decided to keep the information from his young son until he was doing better physically and able to understand why people made the decisions they made.  
  
Ben now climbed the stairs towards Joe's room again. As he got nearer, he could overhear the two voice of his two older son's still in the room. He then could hear the sound of giggling and laughing and that brought a smile to his face and made his heart feel a little lighter before he walked through the door.  
  
"I told ya to keep still Little Joe," came Hoss's voice.  
  
"Both of you aren't making this any easier," came the deeper baritone voice of Adam.  
  
Ben decided now was the time to see exactly what his three sons were up to.  
  
"It would be better if you weren't tickling me Hoss," Joe exclaimed and then began giggling again. Ben could now see all three sons sitting on the bed. The tray that had held Joe's breakfast was still sitting on the boy's lap, but now there was a large sheet of white paper covering the surface.  
  
In Adam's left hand was a large pencil. Hoss was gently holding Joe's right hand splayed onto the paper and Adam was trying to trace around the little boy's fingers.  
  
"There all finished," Adam declared and Hoss let go of Joe's hand so he could lift it from the paper. They all stood staring at the outline for a few seconds. One or two of the fingers looked slightly on the too skinny side and the thumb looked way too long. They all looked at each other and began laughing at the time they were spending together. Joe didn't care what they were doing, so long as he was doing it with the two brothers he adored most.  
  
Ben now looked at Adam for a second, their eyes locking so that Adam knew his father had some information to share with him later on with the younger two boys were not listening.  
  
Whatever it was, Adam could see that it didn't sit well with his father, but Ben was trying hard to make an effort for his brother Joe. They all had to pour their efforts into helping him get over this ordeal and becoming a family again.  
  
"Come on Hoss, you and I can start on those chores outside," Adam said, slightly prodding his younger brother so that Pa and Joe could talk. Or Joe could get some more sleep, which ever came first.  
  
"Sure Adam," Hoss replied, sensing the need for his younger brother and his father to have a father and son chat.  
  
Hoss and Adam now walked out Joe's bedroom, but curiosity got the better of both of them and what Pa might say to help Joe through his emotional pain and distress. They now stole up beside the door, thinking that neither of them could be seen. They almost held their breaths so that their father wouldn't hide them either.  
  
However, Ben smiled to himself. He knew all three of his sons better than they thought he did. He knew perfectly well Hoss and Adam were listening outside the door. He didn't mind though. He hoped that somehow he could help his youngest son to start the healing process, but some of what he was going to say would be relevant to all of them.  
  
Ben sat on the bed, but he waited for Joe to say the first words. He was a little worried about what his son's first question might be. He could see the fatigue etch on the young boy's face and knew it wouldn't be long before Joe was needing to sleep again.  
  
"I am sorry you had to come and find me Pa," Joe said, his bottom lip trembling slightly as he said the words. "At first I wanted to run away, but then after I did, I knew it was wrong and I didn't want to do it anymore. But by then I wasn't feeling too great and it was harder than I thought trying to get back to town."  
  
"Tell me something Joseph," Ben asked, trying to respond to his son's comments. "Why did you run away from the livery stable. I know you were hurting son because of what Mr Watson did to you, but that wasn't the whole reason you ran away was it?"  
  
Joe could only look back at his father with amazement and shock at first. How could this man come to know so much about him. More than Joe could ever say he knew about himself. He couldn't remember saying anything about running away before his hand was hurt. He decided it best to answer the question with honesty.  
  
"I ran away because I heard those men talking about you being angry. I thought you might be mad at me for leaving school early and then for taking the horse without permission," Joe replied. There were probably a few other reasons he had thought of back then that escaped his memory right now.  
  
"Joseph, I know that you have been feeling a little bit lonely around here lately. Maybe a lot lonely right?" Ben now asked and saw his son nod his curly head in a silent yes.  
  
"And I am right in thinking that you were beginning to feel a little unloved around here?" he now added. Again the boy nodded in reply.  
  
"Well let me tell you a little secret son," Ben began, knowing that his other two sons were listening intently. "This was something that my father said to me when I was about your age. And he said that it was a secret just between me and him, just like I am telling you now."  
  
"Daddy's just don't love their children every now and then Joseph," Ben continued seeing tears coming into his son's eyes as he spoke the words. "It's love without end amen."  
  
"I will always try to be there for you Joseph," Ben now said. "And if I am not, I want you to remind me, okay?"  
  
Little Joe couldn't hold his tide of emotions back any further and collapsed his father's broad chest, wrapping his good arm around him and snuggling against him as close as he could get.  
  
In response, Ben wrapped his son with both arms and allowed his son to dwell in the safety of his embrace for as long as he needed to. Ben could hear a few soft sniffles from the boy. A few moments later when all was silent, he looked down and could see that Joe had fallen asleep. Ben didn't release his embrace straight away though. He wanted to hold his boy. Hold him through the good times and the bad. Through all the happy times and the not so happy times.  
  
Love without end..... Amen  
  
THE END - Except for the author's notes below........  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Firstly, I finally reached the end YAYYYYYYYYYYY.  
  
Secondly, a few people may not be entirely happy with what did or didn't happen to Mr Watson. Let me explain why I wrote that he didn't much of a punishment: My Dad was born in 1938 and was left-handed, as was all of his family. Even during his school years in the 1950's, there was wide- spread victimisation of students who didn't fit in, lagged behind a little in their studies, had the wrong skin colour or were left-handed. Most of the teachers during that time and well before then, right back to Little Joe's time were bound by their own sense of what was right and wrong with little or no fear of any reprisals or repercussions should they over step the mark between teacher or abuser. And I still believe strongly that even back then there would have been little or no retribution for a fictional character like Mr Watson.  
  
Sorry if I disappointed some of you readers about him getting his just deserts and a good smack in the mouth by Ben and his boys.  
  
Thirdly, hope you enjoyed this story and hope you will read future one.  
  
Fourthly and finally - the little mountain lion cub Half-Tail will make a come-back. The story will be called The Mountain Lion. It is not a sequel to Dead Man's Canyon and will commence about 12 years from now when Joe is 19 or so. I needed a way to introduce him when he was younger and thought this story was the perfect way to do just that. He will survive his severed tail but will he remember the boy who afford him some tenderness when he was only a cub. They find themselves as foes rather than friends.  
  
JULES 


End file.
